Julian  Street 


ABROAD  AT  HOME 

AFTER  THIRTY 

AMERICAN  ADVENTURES 

THE  NEED  OF  CHANGE 

THE  MOST  INTERESTING  AMERICAN 

(A  close-range  study  of  Theodor«  RooseveU) 

PARIS  A  LA  CARTE 
SHIP-BORED 
WELCOME  TO  OUR  CITY 
THE  GOLDFISH 

(For  Children) 

SUNBEAMS,  INC. 
MYSTERIOUS  JAPAN 


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MYSTERIOUS 
JAPAN  ;- 


BY 

JULIAN  STREET 
v 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS 

BY  THE  AUTHOR  AND 

OTHERS 


GARDEN    CITY,     N.     Y.  ,     AND    TORONTO 

DOUBLEDAY,    PAGE    &    COMPANY 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1921,  BY 

JULIAN   STREET 

ALL  BIGHTS  RESERVED,  INCLUDING  THAT  OF  TRANSLATION 
INTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 

COPTBIQHT,  IQ20,  IQ2I,  BY  MCCLURE's  MAGAZINE,  INCORPORATED 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

COPTBIGHT,  IQ2I,  BY  THE  CENTURY  COMPANY,  THE  OUTLOOK  COMPANY, 
P.  P.  COLLIER  A  SON  COMPANY,  AND  THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES 

PRINTED  AT  GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y.,  U.  8.  A. 

First  Edition 


TO 

FRANK  A.  VANDERLIP 


460474 


To  see  once  is  better  than 
to  hear  a  hundred  times'" 

— MENCIUS 


CONTENTS 
PART  I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

1^  DISCUSSING  CURIOUS  TRAITS  OF  THE  PACIFIC 

OCEAN 1 

II.    THE  ROAD  TO  TOKYO 16 

III.  THE  CAPITAL  AND  COSTUMES       ....  26 

IV.  EARTHQUAKES  AND  RURGLARS     ....  38 
VN  INVERSIONS  AND  THE  ORIENTAL  MIND    .     .  48 

VI.    THE  ISLES  OF  COMPLEXITIES       ....  63 

PART  II 

VII.    THE  GENTLEST  OF  THE  GENTLER  SEX    .     .  81 

VIII.     MORE  ABOUT  WOMEN 93 

IX.    THE  NATIONAL  SPORT 103 

X.    ON  SAKE  AND  ITS  EFFECTS 115 

XI.    DIET  AND  DANCING 127 

XII.    GEISHA  PARTIES 137 

XIII.  THE  NIGHTLESS  CITY 154 

XIV.  IN  A  GARDEN 163 

XV.  AN  EXPLOSIVE  PHILOSOPHER       ....  172 

ix 


x  CONTENTS 

PART  III 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI.    GRAND  OLD  MEN 183 

XVII .    RECOLLECTIONS  OF  VISCOUNT  SHIBUS  AW  A  201 

XVIII.    VISCOUNT    KANEKO'S    MEMORIES    OF 

ROOSEVELT 212 

XIX.    ARE  THE  JAPANESE  EFFICIENT  ?        .     .  228 

XX.      JAPANESE-AMERICAN  RELATIONS     .      .  242 

XXI.    COURTESY  AND  DIPLOMACY    ....  258 

PART  IV 

XXII.    A  RURAL  RAILROAD 273 

XXIII.  ADVENTURES  IN  A  BATH  AT  KAMOGAWA  284 

XXIV.  A  NIGHT  AT  AN  INN 295 

XXV.    PRETTY  GEN  TAJIMA 306 

XXVI.    SUPERSTITIONS  AND  YURI'S  EYES      .     .  315 

XXVII.    "JAPANNED  ENGLISH"  AND  ART        .     .  321 

XXVIII.    SAYONARA                              .     .     .     .  335 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

At  the  top  of  the  temple  steps,  above  Lake  Biwa 

Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Peasants  of  the  region  speak  of  Fuji  as  0  Yama, 

the  "Honourable  Mountain"     ....         6 

With  his  drum  and  his  monkey  he  is  Japan's 
nearest  equivalent  for  our  old-style  organ- 
grinder 22 

The  Japanese  is  not  a  slave  to  his  possessions      38 

Sawing  and  planing  are  accomplished  with  a 

pulling  instead  of  a  driving  motion .      .      . .      38 

The  bath  of  the  proletariat  consists  of  a  large 

barrel 54 

While  Yuki's  fortune  was  being  told  I  photo- 
graphed her 70 

You  cannot  understand  Japan  without  under- 
standing the  Japanese  woman  ....  86 

A  laundry  on  the  river's  brim 94 

Digging  clams  at  low-tide  in  Tokyo  Bay   .     .       94 

Cocoons — Five  thousand  silk  worms  make  one 

kimono 118 

xi 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

No  one  without  a  sweet  nature  could  smile  the 

smile  of  one  of  these  tea-house  maids  .     .  118 

Family  luncheon  a  la  Japonaise 134 

Kimi-chiyo  was   at   almost   every    Japanese- 
style  party  I  attended 154 

It  takes  two  hours  to  do  a  geisha's  hair  .     .  162 

Mrs.  Charles  Burnett  in  a  15th-Century  Japan- 
ese Court  costume      170 

A  teahouse  garden,  Tokyo 178 

Viscount  Shibusawa 190 

Viscount  Kentaro  Kaneko 190 

The  film  was  not  large  enough  to  hold  the  fam- 
ily of  this  youngish  fisherman  at  Nabuto    .  214 

Tai-no-ura 230 

The  theatre  street  in  Kyoto  is  one  of  the  most 

interesting  highways  in  the  world   .      .      .  246 

The  gates  of  the  Tanjo-ji  temple     ....  246 

Nor  could  a  grande  dame  in  an  opera  box  have 

exhibited  more  aplomb 262 

Pretty  Gen  was  between  the  shafts      .     .     .  278 

The  middle-aged  coolie  hurriedly  seated  him- 

self  on  the  bank 294 

Asakusa,  the  great  popular  temple  of  Tokyo     .  310 

Saki,  the  housekeeper,  obligingly  posed  for  me  326 


PART  I 


MYSTERIOUS   JAPAN 

Far  lie  the  Isles  of  Mystery, 

With  never  a  port  between; 
Green  on  the  yellow  of  Asia's  breast, 

Like  a  necklace  of  tourmaline. 

CHAPTER    I 

A  Day  Goes  Overboard— A  Sunday  Schism — A  Desert 
Island — Water,  Water  Everywhere  —  Men  with  Tails  — 
Anecdotes  of  the  Emperor  of  Korea — Korean  Reforms — Cured 
by  Brigands — The  Man  who  Went  to  Florida — The  Black 
Current — White  Cliffs  and  Coloured  Sails — Fuji  Ahoy! 

A  PECULIAR  ocean,  the  Pacific.    A  large  and 
lonely  ocean  with  few  ships  and  many  rutty 
spots  that  need  mending.    Ploughing  west- 
ward over  its  restless  surface  for  a  week,  you  come 
to  the  place  where  East  meets  West  with  a  bump  that 
dislocates  the  calendar.     It  is  as  though  a  date-pad  in 
your  hand  were  knocked  to  pieces  and  the  days  dis- 
tributed about  the  deck.    You  pick  them  up  and 
reassemble  them,  but  one  is  missing.     Poor  little 
lost   day!    It   became   entangled   with   the    180th 
meridian  and  was  dragged  overboard  never  to  be 
seen  again. 
With  us,  aboard  the  admirable  Kashima  Mam,  the 


2  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

lost  day  happened  to  be  Sunday,  which  caused  a 
schism  on  the  ship.  In  the  smokeroom,  where  poker 
was  a  daily  pastime,  resignation  was  expressed,  the 
impression  being  that  with  the  lost  day  went  the  cus- 
tomary Sunday  services.  But  in  reaching  this  con- 
clusion the  smokeroom  group  had  failed  to  reckon 
with  the  fact  that  missionaries  were  aboard.  The 
missionaries  held  a  hasty  conference  in  the  social 
hall,  and  ignoring  the  irreverent  pranks  of  longitude 
and  time,  announced  a  service  for  the  day  that  fol- 
lowed Saturday.  Upon  this  a  counter-conference 
was  held  around  the  poker  table,  whereat  were 
reached  the  following  conclusions: 

That  aboard  ship  the  captain's  will  is,  and  of  a 
right  ought  to  be,  absolute;  that  the  captain  had 
pronounced  the  day  Monday;  that  in  the  eyes  of  this 
law-abiding  though  poker-playing  group,  it  there- 
fore was  Monday;  that  the  proposal  to  hold  church 
services  on  Monday  constituted  an  attempt  upon 
the  part  of  certain  passengers  to  set  their  will  above 
that  of  the  captain;  that  such  action  was,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  smokeroom  group,  subversive  to  the 
ship's  discipline,  if  indeed  it  did  not  constitute 
actual  mutiny  on  the  high  seas;  that  members 
of  this  group  could  not,  therefore,  be  party  to  the 
action  proposed;  that,  upon  the  contrary,  they 
deemed  it  their  clear  duty  in  this  crisis  to  stand  back 
of  the  captain;  and  finally,  that  in  pursuance  of  this 
duty  they  should  and  would  remain  in  the  smoke- 
room  throughout  the  entire  day,  carrying  on  their 
regular  Monday  game,  even  though  others  might 


MYSTERIOUS     JAPAN  3 

see  fit  to  carry  on  their  regular  Sunday  game  else- 
where in  the  vessel. 

Had  this  been  the  Atlantic  crossing  we  should  by 
now  have  landed  on  the  other  side;  yet  here  we  were, 
pitching  upon  a  cold  gray  waste  a  few  miles  south 
of  Behring  Sea,  with  Yokohama  a  full  week  away. 

Yet  land — land  of  a  kind — was  not  so  distant  as  I 
had  imagined.  Early  one  morning  in  the  middle 
of  the  voyage  my  steward,  Sugimoto,  came  to  my 
cabin  and  woke  me  up  to  see  it.  (A  splendid  fellow, 
Sugimoto;  short  and  round  of  body,  with  flesh  solid 
and  resilient  as  a  hard  rubber  ball,  and  a  circular 
sweet  face  that  Raphael  might  have  painted  for 
a  cherub,  had  Raphael  been  Japanese.) 

"Good  morning,  gentleman,"  said  he.  "Gentle- 
man look  porthole,  he  see  land." 

I  arose  and  looked. 

A  flounce  of  foam  a  mile  or  two  away  across  the 
water  edged  the  skirt  of  a  dark  mountain  jutting 
abruptly  from  the  sea.  Through  a  mist,  like  a  half- 
raised  curtain  of  gray  gauze,  I  saw  a  wintry  peak 
from  which  long  tongues  of  snow  trailed  downward, 
marking  seams  and  gorges.  It  was,  in  short, 
just  such  an  island  as  is  discovered  in  the  nick  of 
time  by  a  shipwrecked  whaler  who,  famished  and 
freezing  in  an  open  boat,  has  drifted  for  days  through 
the  storm-tossed  pages  of  a  sea  story.  He  would  land 
in  a  sheltered  cove  and  would  quickly  discover  a 
spring  and  a  cave.  He  would  devise  a  skilful 
means  of  killing  seals,  would  dress  himself  in  their 


4  MTSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

skins,  and  subsist  upon  their  meat — preceded  by  the 
customary  clam  and  fish  courses.  For  three  years 
he  would  live  upon  the  island,  believing  himself 
alone.  Then  suddenly  would  come  to  him  the 
knowledge  that  life  in  this  place  was  no  longer  safe. 
About  the  entrance  to  his  cave  he  would  find  the 
tracks  of  a  predatory  animal — fresh  prints  of  French 
heels  in  the  snow! 

Austere  though  the  island  looked,  my  heart 
warmed  at  the  sight  of  it;  for  there  is  no  land  so 
miserable  that  it  is  not  to  be  preferred  above 
the  sea.  Moreover  I  saw  in  this  land  a  harbinger. 
The  Empire  of  Japan,  I  knew,  consisted  of  several 
large  islands — to  the  chief  one  of  which  we  were 
bound — and  some  four  thousand  smaller  ones 
stretching  out  in  a  vast  chain.  This  island,  then, 
must  be  the  first  one  of  the  chain.  From  now  on 
we  would  no  doubt  be  passing  islands  every  little 
while.  The  remainder  of  the  voyage  would  be  like 
a  trip  down  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

Soothed  and  encouraged  by  this  pleasant  thought, 
and  wishing  always  to  remember  this  outpost  of  the 
Island  Empire,  I  asked  its  name  of  Sugimoto. 

"That  Araska,  gentleman,"  he  answered. 

"Are  you  glad  to  see  Japan  again,  Sugimoto?" 

"That  Araska,"  he  repeated. 

"Yes.    A  part  of  Japan,  isn't  it?" 

Sugimoto  shook  his  head. 

"No,  gentleman.     Araska  American  land." 

"That  island  belongs  to  the  United  States?" 

"Yes,  gentleman.     That  Araska." 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  5 

I  had  never  heard  of  an  island  of  that  name. 
Surely  Sugimoto  was  mistaken  in  thinking  it  an 
American  possession. 

"Could  you  show  it  to  me  on  the  map?"  I  asked. 

From  my  dresser  he  took  a  folder  of  the  steamship 
company  and  opening  to  a  map  of  the  Pacific, 
pointed  to  one  of  many  little  dots.  "Aleutian 
Islands,"  they  were  marked.  They  dangled  far, 
far  out  from  the  end  of  that  peninsula  which  re- 
sembles a  long  tongue  hanging  from  the  mouth 
of  a  dog,  the  head  of  which  is  rudely  suggested 
by  the  cartographic  outlines  of  our  northernmost 
territory.  We  had  sailed  directly  away  from  our 
native  land  for  a  week,  only  to  find  ourselves,  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  still  in  sight  of  its  outskirts. 
Like  many  another  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  good 
Sugimoto  had  difficulties  with  his  Ts  and  r's.  He 
had  been  trying  to  inform  me  that  the  island — the 
name  of  which  proved  to  be  Amatisnok — belonged 
to  Alaska. 

I  began  to  study  the  map  and  look  up  statistics 
concerning  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  was  a  great  mis- 
take. It  is  not  pleasant  to  discover  that  three 
quarters  of  the  world  is  worse  than  wasted,  being 
entirely  given  over  to  salt  water.  Nor  is  it  pleasant 
to  discover,  when  far  out  on  the  Pacific,  that  more 
than  a  third  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  taken  up 
by  this  one  ocean.  Any  thought  of  getting  General 
Goethals  to  remedy  this  matter  by  filling  up  the 
Pacific  is,  moreover,  hopeless,  for  all  the  land  in  the 
world,  if  spread  over  the  Pacific's  surface,  would  only 


6  MYSTERIOUS  JAPAN 

make  an  island '.surrounded  by  twenty  million  square 
miles  of  sea. 

Feeling  depressed  over  these  facts  I  now  began 
to  look  for  points  of  merit;  for  we  are  told  to  try  to 
find  the  good  in  everything,  and  though  I  fear 
I  pay  but  scant  attention  to  this  canon  when  in 
my  normal  state  ashore,  at  sea  I  become  another 
man. 

On  land  I  have  a  childish  feeling  that  the  Creator 
has  not  time  to  pay  attention  to  me,  having  so 
many  other  people  to  look  after;  but  a  ship  far  out 
at  sea  is  a  conspicuous  object.  I  feel  that  it  must 
catch  His  eye.  I  feel  Him  looking  at  me.  And 
though  I  hope  He  likes  me,  I  see  no  special  reason 
why  He  should.  I  am  so  full  of  faults,  so  critical, 
so  prejudiced.  Consider,  for  instance,  the  way  I 
used  to  go  on  about  President  Wilson  and  Josephus 
Daniels  and  W.  J.  Bryan.  I  am  afraid  that  was 
very  wrong  in  me.  Instead  of  studying  their  failings 
I  should  have  remedied  my  own.  I  should  have 
given  more  to  charity.  I  should  have  been  more 
gentle  in  expressing  my  opinions.  I  should  have 
written  often  to  my  sister,  who  so  enjoys  getting 
letters  from  me.  I  should  have  looked  for  good  in 
everything. 

Immediately  I  begin  to  run  about  the  ship  looking 
for  it.  And  lo !  I  find  it.  The  ship  is  comfortable. 
It  seems  to  be  designed  to  stay  on  top  of  the  water. 
The  table  is  beyond  criticism.  The  passengers 
are  interesting.  The  very  vastness  of  this  ocean 
tends  to  make  them  so.  Instead  of  being  all  of  a 


Peasants  of  the  region  speak  of  Fuji  not  by  name  but  merely 
as  0  Yama,  the  "Honourable  Mountain" 


MYSTERIOUS   JAPAN  7 

pattern,  as  would  be  one's  fellow  passengers  on  an 
Atlantic  liner,  they  are  a  heterogeneous  lot,  familiar 
with  strange  corners  of  the  globe  and  full  of  curious 
tales  and  bits  of  information.  Instead  of  talking 
always  of  hotels  in  London,  Paris,  Venice,  Rome 
and  Naples,  they  speak  familiarly  of  Seoul,  Shanghai, 
Peking,  Hongkong,  Saigon  and  Singapore.  And 
amongst  them  are  a  few  having  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  islands  and  cities  so  remote  that  their 
names  sing  in  the  ears  like  fantastic  songs.  Fra- 
grant names.  The  Celebes  and  Samarkand! 

There  was  a  little  Englishman  who  hunted  butter- 
flies for  a  museum.  He  told  me  of  great  spiders 
as  big  as  your  two  hands,  that  build  their  webs  be- 
tween the  trees  in  the  jungles  of  Borneo — I  think 
he  said  Borneo.  But  whatever  the  name  of  the 
place,  he  found  there  natives  having  tails  from  two 
to  four  inches  long — I  think  he  said  two  to  four 
inches.  But  whatever  the  length  of  the  tails,  he 
had  photographs  to  prove  that  tails  there  were. 
The  latest  theory  of  man's  evolution,  he  told  me, 
is  not  the  theory  of  Darwin,  but  holds  that  there 
existed  long  ago  an  intermediary  creature  between 
man  and  ape,  from  which  both  are  derived — the 
ape  having,  I  take  it,  evolved  upward  into  the  tree- 
tops,  while  man  evolved  downward — down,  down, 
down,  until  at  last  came  jazz  and  Lenine  and 
Trotzky. 

Another  man  had  lived  for  years  in  Korea.  In  the 
old  days  before  it  was  taken  over  by  Japan,  he  said, 
it  was  a  perfect  comic-opera  country  with  the 


8  MYSTERIOUS   JAPAN 

Emperor  as  chief  comedian.  He  knew  and  liked 
the  Emperor,  and  told  me  funny  stories  about  him. 
Once  when  His  Majesty's  teeth  required  filling 
the  work  had  to  wait  until  the  American  dentist  in 
Seoul  could  have  a  set  of  instruments  made  of  gold, 
that  being  the  only  metal  permitted  within  the 
sacred  confines  of  the  Imperial  mouth. 

"The  concession  to  build  an  electric  street  railway  in 
Seoul  was  given  to  Americans  on  the  understanding 
that  they  should  import  motormen  from  the  United 
States  and  that  these  should  be  held  in  readiness  to 
fly  to  the  Emperor's  aid  in  case  of  trouble.  A 
private  wire  connected  the  Imperial  bedchamber 
with  that  of  the  manager  of  the  street-car  company, 
so  that  the  latter  might  be  quickly  notified  if  help 
was  needed.  For  more  than  a  year  the  wire  stood 
unused,  but  at  last  late  one  night  the  bell  rang. 
The  manager  leaped  from  his  bed  and  rushed  to 
the  special  telephone.  But  it  was  not  a  revolution. 
The  Emperor  had  just  heard  about  a  certain  office 
building  in  New  York  and  wished  to  know  if  it  had,  in 
fact,  as  many  stories  as  had  been  reported  to  him. 

In  his  fear  of  revolution  or  invasion  the  Emperor 
built  a  palace  adjoining  the  American  legation.  And 
when,  as  happened  now  and  then,  there  came  a  coup 
d'etat,  threatening  his  personal  safety,  he  would 
get  a  ladder  and  climb  over  the  wall  separating 
the  back  yard  of  the  palace  from  that  of  the  American 
minister.  This  occurring  frequently,  so  embarrassed 
the  latter,  that  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  His  Maj- 
esty's habit  of  informal  calling,  he  caused  the  top 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  9 

of  the  wall  to  be  covered  with  inhospitable  broken 
glass. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  annexation  of  Korea  by 
Japan,  my  informant  said,  the  Koreans  were  entirely 
without  patriotism,  but  the  Japanese  so  oppressed 
them  that  a  strong  national  feeling  was  engendered 
after  it  was  too  late.  That  the  Japanese  had  been 
harsh  and  brutal  in  Korea,  he  said,  was  indisputable, 
but  this  was  the  work  of  militarists,  and  was  con- 
trary to  the  will  of  the  people  of  Japan  who,  when 
they  learned  what  had  been  going  on,  protested 
with  such  violence  that  newspapers  had  to  be  sup- 
pressed in  Japanese  cities,  and  there  was  clubbing 
of  rioters  in  the  streets  by  the  police.  This  caused 
immediate  reform  in  Korea.  The  brutal  Governor 
General  was  recalled  and  was  replaced  by  Admiral 
Baron  Saito,  a  humane  and  enlightened  statesman 
who  has  earnestly  striven  to  improve  conditions, 
with  the  result  that  Koreans  are  to-day  being  better 
educated  and  better  governed  than  they  have  been 
within  the  memory  of  man.  Also  they  are  prosper- 
ing. First  steps  are  now  being  taken  toward  allow- 
ing them  to  participate  in  their  own  government, 
and  if  conditions  seem  to  justify  the  extension  of 
their  privileges,  it  is  hoped  that  they  may  ultimately 
have  home  rule. 

From  another  passenger  I  got  a  story  about  an 
American  who  was  captured  by  brigands  in  China. 
The  victim  was  a  civil  engineer,  very  skilful  at  lay- 
ing out  railroad  lines.  The  American  International 
Corporation  wished  to  send  him  to  China  to  plan  a 


10  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

railroad,  but  he  demurred  because  he  was  in  bad 
health.  Finally,  on  being  pressed  by  the  company, 
he  consented  to  go  if  his  private  physician  was  sent 
with  him.  This  was  agreed  to. 

In  China  brigands  caught  the  civil  engineer  but 
not  the  doctor.  They  kept  him  for  a  long  time. 
He  was  taken  from  place  to  place  over  the  roughest 
country,  walking  all  night,  sleeping  by  day  in  damp 
caves,  eating  coarse  and  insufficient  food.  At 
last  he  was  released.  He  returned  in  rugged  health. 
The  life  of  the  brigand  was  just  the  thing  that  he 
had  needed. 

"Out  here  on  the  seas,  without  home  newspapers," 
one  thoughtful  traveller  remarked  to  me,  "we  lose 
touch  with  the  world  and  never  quite  make  up  all 
that  we  have  lost.  When  we  land  we  hear  about 
some  of  the  things  that  have  happened,  but  there 
are  minor  events  of  which  we  never  hear,  or  of  which 
the  news  comes  to  us  long  after,  as  a  great  surprise. 
I  recall  one  example  from  my  own  experience. 

"In  the  New  England  town  in  which  I  live  there 
was  a  banker,  a  prominent  old  citizen  with  a  reputa- 
tion for  being  very  close,  and  none  too  scrupulous  in 
the  means  he  sometimes  took  for  making  money. 

"It  had  for  years  been  his  habit  to  go  every  win- 
ter to  Florida,  but  his  daughter,  who  kept  house  for 
him,  liked  the  northern  winter  and  remained  at 
home. 

"Some  years  ago,  while  I  was  in  the  Far  East, 
this  old  man  died,  but  I  was  gone  for  a  long  time 
and  heard  nothing  of  it.  When  I  got  back  it  was 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  11 

winter.  One  day  I  met  the  daughter  and  stopped 
to  speak  to  her.  It  was  snowing  and  a  cold  wind 
was  whistling  down  the  street.  We  had  been  hav- 
ing trouble  with  the  furnace  at  our  house  and  my 
mind  was  full  of  that.  So  when  I  met  her  I  said: 

"'One  good  thing — on  a  day  like  this  you  don't 
have  to  worry  about  your  father.  Furnaces  don't 
get  out  of  order  down  there  where  he  is.' 

"Now,  when  I  am  away,  I  have  the  newspapers 
saved,  and  on  my  return  I  read  them  all  if  it  takes 
me  a  whole  week." 

Somewhere  in  those  seas  that  lie  between  the 
islands  of  Formosa  and  Luzon  there  arises  a  wide 
tepid  current,  known  as  the  Black  Current  which, 
flowing  northward,  tempers  the  climate  of  Hondo, 
the  main  island  of  Japan.  "To  this  beneficent 
stream,"  remarks  the  guidebook,  "the  shores  of 
Nippon  owe  their  luxuriant  greenness." 

As  we  crossed  the  Black  Current  a  certain  green- 
ness likewise  was  revealed  upon  my  countenance. 
I  did  not  find  the  stream  beneficent  at  all.  It 
was  only  about  two  hundred  miles  wide,  however, 
and  by  morning  the  worst  of  it  was  past.  I  came  on 
deck  to  find  the  Kashima  Mam  riding  like  a  placid 
bulky  water-fowl  upon  a  friendly  sunlit  sea.  And 
far  away  on  the  horizon  lay  a  streak  of  mist  that 
was  Japan. 

In  an  hour  or  two  the  mist  attained  more  sub- 
stance. It  was  like  a  coloured  lantern-slide  coming 
slowly  into  focus.  Someone  showed  me  a  white 


12  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

dot  upon  the  shadow  of  a  hill  and  said  it  was  a 
lighthouse,  and  some  one  else  discerned  a  village 
in  a  little  smudge  of  buff  where  land  and  water  met. 
Gulls  were  circling  around  us — gulls  with  dark  ser- 
rated margins  to  their  wings;  smaller  than  those  we 
had  seen  on  Puget  Sound.  Foreign  gulls! 

Since  leaving  Victoria  we  had  sighted  only  one  ship, 
but  now f  an  unladen  freighter,  pointing  high  and 
showing  a  broad  strip  of  red  underbody,  reeled 
by  like  a  gay  drunkard,  and  was  no  sooner  gone 
astern  than  we  picked  up  on  the  other  bow  a  wallow- 
ing stubby  caravel  with  a  high- tilted  poop  like  that 
of  the  Santa  Maria — a  vessel  such  as  I  had  never 
dreamed  of  seeing  asail  in  sober  earnest.  And  she 
was  hardly  gone  when  we  overhauled  a  little  fleet 
of  fishing  boats  having  the  lovely  colour  of  unpainted 
wood,  and  the  slender  graceful  lines  of  viking  ships. 
All  of  them  but  one  carried  a  square  white  sail  on 
either  mast,  but  that  one  had  three  masts  and  three 
sails,  two  of  which  were  yellow,  while  the  third  was  of 
a  tender  faded  indigo.^  It  promised  things,  that 
boat  with  coloured  sails! 

Distant  white  cliffs,  tall  and  ghostly  like  those 
of  Dover,  brought  memories  of  another  island  king- 
dom, far  away  through  the  cheek  of  the  world, 
whose  citizens  were  at  this  moment  sleeping  their 
midnight  sleep — last  night.  Presently  the  white 
cliffs  vanished,  giving  place  to  a  wall  of  hills  with 
conical  tops  and  bright  green  sides  splattered  with 
blue-green  patches  of  pine  woods.  And  when  I 
saw  the  brushwork  on  those  wrinkled  cone-shaped 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  13 

hills,  so  unlike  any  other  hills  that  I  had  seen,  I 
knew  that^Hokusai  and  Hiroshige,  far  from  being 
merely  decorative  artists,  had  "painted  nature  as 
they  saw  it.'^ 

The  villages  along  the  shore  could  now  be  seen 
more  plainly— 5-ows  of  one-story  houses  taking  their      ^ 
colour  from  the  yellow  wood  of  which  they  were 
constructed,  and  the  yellow  thatch  of  their  roofs, 
both  tempered  by  the  elements.^ 

Then,  as  I  was  looking  at  a  village  on  a  promontory 
reaching  out  to  meet  us,  some  one  cried: 

"Fuji!  Come  and  look  at  Fujiyama!"  and  I  ran 
forward  and  gazed  with  straining  eyes  across  the 
sea  and  the  hilltops  to  where,  shimmering  white  in 
the  far-off  sky,  there  hung — was  it  indeed  the  famous 
fan-shaped  cone,  or  only  a  luminous  patch  of  cloud? 
Or  was  it  anything  at  all? 

"Where's  Fuji?" 

" Right  there.    Don't  you  see?  " 

"No.     Yes,  now  I  think " 

"  It's  gone.     No !    There  it  is  again ! " 

So  must  the  chorus  ever  go.  For  Fuji,  most 
beautiful  of  mountains,  is  also  the  most  elusive. 
Later,  in  Tokyo,  when  some  one  called  me  to  come 
and  see  it,  it  disappeared  while  I  was  on  the  way 
upstairs. 

Splendid  as  Vesuvius  appears  when  she  floats  in 
opalescent  mist  above  the  Bay  of  Naples  with  her 
smoke  plume  lowering  above  her,  she  is,  by  com- 
parison with  Fuji,  but  a  tawny  little  ruffian.  Vesuvius 
rises  four  thousand  feet  while  Fuji  stands  three 


14  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

times  as  high.  And  although  the  top  of  Pike's 
Peak  is  higher  than  the  sacred  mountain  of  Japan 
by  some  two  thousand  feet,  the  former,  starting 
from  a  plain  one  mile  above  sea-level,  has  an  immense 
handicap,  whereas  the  latter  starts  at  "scratch." 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  when  you  look  at  Pike's 
Peak  from  the  plains  what  you  actually  see  is  a 
mountain  rising  nine  thousand  feet;  whereas  when 
you  look  at  Fuji  from  the  sea  the  whole  of  its  twelve 
thousand  and  more  feet  is  visible. 

Aside  from  Fuji's  size,  the  things  which  make  it 
more  beautiful  than  Vesuvius  are  the  perfection  of 
its  contour,  the  snow  upon  its  cone,  and  the  at- 
mospheric quality  of  Japan — that  source  of  so 
much  disappointment  to  snapshotting  travellers 
who  time  their  pictures  as  they  would  at  home. 

A  Japanese  friend  on  the  ship  told  me  that  though 
Fuji  had  been  quiescent  for  considerably  longer 
than  a  century  there  was  heat  enough  in  some  of 
its  steaming  fissures  to  permit  eggs  to  be  boiled. 
Eighteen  or  twenty  thousand  persons  make  the 
climb  each  year,  he  said,  and  some  devout  women 
of  seventy  years  and  over  struggle  slowly  up  the 
slope,  taking  a  week  or  more  to  the  ascent,  which  is 
made  by  able-bodied  men  in  half  a  day  or  less. 
Peasants  of  the  region  speak  of  Fuji  not  by  name 
but  merely  as  0  Yama,  "the  Honourable  Moun- 
tain," but  my  Japanese  friend  added  that  though 
the  honorific  0,  used  so  much  by  his  countrymen, 
was  translated  literally  into  English  as  "honourable," 
it  did  not  have,  in  the  Japanese  ear,  any  such  elabor- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  15 

ate  and  ponderous  value,  but  was  spoken  automatic- 
ally and  often  only  for  the  sake  of  cadence. 

"We  say  0  without  thinking,"  he  explained,  "just 
as  you  begin  with  'dear  sir,'  in  writing  to  a  stranger 
who  is  not  dear  to  you  at  all." 

For  Fuji,  however,  I  like  the  full  English  poly- 
syllabic of  respect.  It  is  indeed  an  "honourable 
mountain."  The  great  volcanic  cone  hanging,  as 
it  sometimes  seems,  in  thin  blue  air,  has  an  ethereal 
look  suggesting  purity  and  spirituality,  so  that  it  as 
not  difficult  for  the  beholder  from  another  land  to 
sense  its  quality  of  sacredness,  and  to  perceive  its 
fitness  to  be  the  abiding  place  of  that  beautiful 
goddess  whose  Japanese  name  means  "Princess- 
who-makes-the-Blossoms-of-the-Trees-to-Flower . ' ' 

"There  are  two  kinds  of  fools,"  says  a  Japanese 
proverb:  " — those  who  have  never  ascended  Fuji 
and  those  who  have  ascended  twice."  To  this 
category  I  would  add  a  third  kind  of  fool,  the  great- 
est of  them  all:  the  fool  who  fails  to  appreciate  the 
spectacle  of  Fuji.  A  creature  who  would  be  dis- 
appointed in  Fuji  would  be  disappointed  in  any 
spectacle,  however  grand — be  it  the  Grand  Canon, 
the  Grand  Canal,  or  the  Grand  Central  Station. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Pier  at  Yokohama — The  Flower-People — A  Celestial 
Suburb — French  Cooking  and  Frock  Coats — From  a  Car- 
Window— Elfin  Gardens—" The  Land  of  Little  Children" 

THE  satisfying  thing  about  Japan  is  that  it 
always  looks  exactly  like  Japan.  It  could 
not  possibly  be  any  other  place.  The  gulls 
are  Japanese  gulls,  the  hills  are  Japanese  hills, 
Tokyo  Bay  is  a  Japanese  bay,  and  if  the  steamers 
anchored  off  the  port  of  Yokohama  are  not  all 
of  them  Japanese,  many  of  them  have,  at  least,  an 
exotic  look,  with  their  preposterously  fat  red  funnels 
or  their  slender  blue  ones.  Even  the  little  launches 
from  which  the  port  authorities  board  you  as  you 
lie  in  the  harbour  are  not  quite  like  the  launches 
seen  elsewhere,  and  though r  the  great  stone  pier^ 
to  which  at  last  you  are  warped  in,  might  of  itself 
fit  the  picture  of  a  British  seaport,  the  women  and 
children  waiting  on  the  pier,  trotting  along  beside 
the  ship  as  she  moves  slowly  to  her  berth,  waving 
and  smiling  up  at  friends  on  deck,  are  costumed  in 
inevitable  suggestion  of  great  brilliant  flower- 
j  gardens  agitated  by  the  wind.  Amongst  these 
fwomen  and  children  in  their  bright  draperies^  the 
dingy  European  dress  of  the  male  is  almost  lost,  so 

16 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  17 

that,  for  all  its  pantaloons  and  derby  hats,  Japan 
is  still  Japan. 

Through  this  garden  of  chattering,  laughing, 
fluttering  human  flowers  we  made  our  way  to — score 
one  for  New  Japan— -a  limousine,  and  in  this  vehicle 
were  whirled  off  through  the  crowd:  a  jumble  of 
blue-clad  coolies  wearing  wide  mushroom  hats  and 
the  insignia  of  their  employers  stamped  upon  their 
backs,  of  rickshas,  and  touring  cars,  and  motor- 
trucks, and  skirted  schoolboys  riding  bicycles,  and 
curious  little  drays  with  tiny  wheels,  drawn  by 
shaggy  little  horses  which  are  always  led,  and 
which,  when  left  to  stand,  have  their  front  legs 
roped^Over  a  bridge  we  went,  above  the  peaked 
rice-straw  awnings  of  countless  wooden  cargo  boats; 
then  up  a  narrow  road,  surfaced  with  brown  sand, 
between  rows  of  delightful  little  wooden  houses, 
terraced  one  above  the  other,  with  fences  of  board 
or  bamboo  only  partly  concealing  infinitesimal 
gardens,  and  sliding  front  doors  of  paper  and  wood- 
lattice,  some  of  which,  pushed  back,  revealed  straw- 
matted  floors  within,  with  perhaps  more  flower-like 
women  and  children  looking  out  at  us — the  women 
and  the  larger  children  having  babies  tied  to  their 
backsj  By  some  of  the  doors  stood  pots  containing 
dwarf  trees  or  flowering  shrubs,  by  others  were 
hung  light  wooden  birdcages  from  which  a  snatch 
of  song  would  come,  and  in  front  of  every  door  was 
a  low  flat  stone  on  which  stood  rows  of  little  wooden 
clogs^  Dogs  of  breeds  unknown  to  me  sat  placidly 
before  their  masters'  doors — brown  dogs  to  match 


18  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

the  houses,  black  and  white  dogs,  none  of  them  very 
large,  all  of  them  plump  and  benignant  in  expression. 
Not  one  of  them  left  its  place  to  run  and  bark  at 
our  car.  They  were  the  politest  dogs  I  have  ever 
seen.  They  simply  sat  upon  their  haunches,  smiling. 
And  the  women  smiled,  and  the  children  smiled, 
and  the  cherry  blossoms  smiled  from  branches  over- 
head, and  the  sun  smiled  through  them,  casting  over 
the  brown  roadway  and  brown  houses  and  brown 
people  a  lovely  splattering  of  light  and  shadow. 

And  what  with  all  these  things,  and  a  glimpse  of  a 
torii  and  a  shrine,  and  the  musical  sound  of  scraping 
wooden  clogs  upon  the  pavement  and  the  faint 
pervasive  fragrance,  suggesting  blended  odours 
of  new  pine  wood,  incense,  and  spice — which  is  to 
me  the  smell  of  Japan;  though  hostile  critics  will 
be  quick  to  remind  me  of  the  odour  of  paddy  fields 
—what  with  all  these  sights  and  sounds  and  smells, 
so  alluring  and  antipodal,  I  began  to  think  we  must 
be  motoring  through  a  celestial  suburb,  toward 
the  gates  of  Paradise  itself. 

But  instead  of  climbing  onward  up  the  hill  to 
T  heaven  we  swung  off  f through  a  garden  blooming 
with  azaleas  white,  purple,  pink,  and  salmon-colour, 
and  drew  up  at  a  pleasant  clubhousej  There  we 
had  luncheon;  and  it  is  worth  remarking  that, 
though  prepared  by  Japanese,  both  the  menu  and 
the  cooking  were  in  faultless  French.  The  Japanese 
gentlemen  at  this  club  were  financiers,  officials  and 
prominent  business  men  of  Yokohama.  One  or 
two  of  them  wore  the  graceful  and  dignified  hakama 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  19 

and  haori — the  silk  skirt  and  coat  of  formal  native 
dress — but  by  far  the  larger  number  were  habited 
in  European  style:  some  of  the  younger  men  in 
cutaways,  but  the  majority  in  frock-coats,  garments 
still  widely  favoured  in  Japan,  as  are  also  congress 
gaiter  shoes — a  most  convenient  style  of  footwear  in 
a  land  where  shoes  are  shed  on  entering  a  house. 

Luncheon  over,  we  drove  to  the  station  of  the 
electric  railroad  that  parallels  the  steam  railroad 
from  the  seaport  to  the  capital — which,  by  the  way, 
will  itself  become  a  seaport  when  the  proposed  chan- 
nel has  been  dredged  up  Tokyo  Bay,  now  navigable 
only  by  small  boats. 

From  the  car  window  we  continued  our  observa- 
tions as  we  rushed  along.  The  gage  of  the  steam 
railway  is  narrower  than  that  of  railways  in  America 
and  Europe;  the  locomotives  resemble  European 
locomotives  and  the  cars  are  small  and  light  by  com- 
parison with  ours.  The  engine  whistles  are  shrill, 
and  instead  of  two  men,  three  are  carried  in  each 
cab.  This  we  shall  presently  discover,  is  character- 
istic of  Japan.  They  employ  more  people  than  we 
do  on  a  given  piece  of  work — a  discovery  rather 
surprising  after  all  that  we  have  heard  of  Japanese 
efficiency.  But  Japan's  reputation  for  efficiency 
is  after  all  based  largely  on  her  military  exploits. 
Perhaps  her  army  is  efficient.  Perhaps  her  navy 
is.  Certainly  the  discipline  and  service  on  the 
Kashima  Mam  would  bear  comparison  with  those 
on  a  first-rate  English  ship.  Yet  why  three  men 
on  a  locomotive?  Why  several  conductors  on  a 


20  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

street  car?  Why  three  servants  in  an  ordinary 
middle-class  home  which  in  America  or  Europe 
would  be  run  by  one  or  two?  Why  fifteen  servants 
in  a  house  which  we  would  run  with  six  or  eight? 
Why  so  many  motor  cars  with  an  assistant  sitting 
on  the  seat  beside  the  chauffeur?  Why  so  few 
motors?  Why  men  and  women  drawing  heavy 
carts  that  might  so  much  better  be  drawn  by  horses 
or  propelled  by  gasolene?  Why  these  ill-paved 
narrow  roads?  Why  this  watering  of  streets  with 
dippers  or  with  little  hand-carts  pulled  by  men? 
Why  a  dozen  or  more  coolies  operating  a  hand- 
driven  pile-driver,  lifting  the  weight  with  ropes, 
when  two  men  and  a  little  steam  would  do  the  work 
so  much  faster  and  better?  Why,  for  the  matter 
of  that,  these  delightful  rickshas  which  some  jester 
of  an  earlier  age  dubbed  "pull-man"  cars?  Why 
this  waste  of  labour  everywhere? 

Can  it  be  that  in  this  densely  populated  little 
country  there  are  more  willing  hands  than  there  is 
work  for  willing  hands  to  do?  Must  work  be  spread 
thin  in  order  to  provide  a  task  and  a  living  for  every- 
one? But  again,  if  that  was  it,  would  people  work 
as  hard  as  these  people  seem  to?  Would  women 
be  at  work  beside  their  husbands,  digging  knee 
deep  in  the  mud  and  water  of  the  rice  fields,  dragging 
heavy-laden  carts,  handling  bulky  boats?  And 
would  the  working  hours  be  so  long?  Here  is  some- 
thing to  be  looked  into.  But  not  now. 

It  is  a  hand-embroidered  country,  Japan,  though 
the  embroidery  is  done  in  fine  stitches  of  an  un- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  21 

familiar  kind.  The  rural  landscape  is  so  formed 
and  trimmed  and  cultivated  that  sometimes  it 
achieves  the  look  of  a  lovely  little  garden,  just  as 
the  English  landscape  sometimes  has  the  look  of 
a  great  park.  Here,  much  more  than  in  England, 
every  available  inch  of  land  is  put  to  use.  Where 
hillsides  are  so  steep  that  they  would  wash  away 
if  not  protected,  tidy  walls  of  diamond-shaped  stone 
are  laid  dry  against  them;  but  whenever  possible  the 
hillsides  are  terraced  up  in  a  way  to  remind  one  of 
vineyards  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Moselle,  making 
a  series  of  shelf-like  little  fields,  each  doing  its  utmost 
to  help  solve  the  food  problem. 

It  is  hard  to  say  whether  the  towns  along  this 
line  of  railroad  are  separated  by  groups  of  farms, 
or  whether  the  groups  of  farms  are  separated  by 
towns,  so  even  is  the  division.  The  farms  are  very 
small  so  that  the  open  country  is  dotted  over  with 
little  houses — the  same  low  dainty  houses  of  wood 
and  paper  that  delighted  us  when  we  first  saw  them, 
and  which  will  always  delight  us  when,  from  the 
other  side  of  the  world,  we  think  of  them.  For 
there  is  something  in  the  sight  of  a  neat  little  Japan- 
ese house  with  its  few  feet  of  garden  which  appeals 
curiously  to  one's  imagination  and  one's  sentiment. 
It  is  all  so  light  and  lovely,  yet  all  so  carefully  con- 
trived, so  highly  finished.  To  the  Western  eye — 
at  least  to  mine — it  has  a  quality  of  fantasy.  I 
feel  that  it  cannot  be  quite  real,  and  that  the  people 
who  live  in  it  cannot  be  quite  real:  that  they  are 
part — say  a  quarter — fairy.  And  I  ask  you:  who 


22  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

but  people  having  in  their  veins  at  least  a  little 
fairy  blood  would  take  the  trouble  to  plant  a  row  of 
iris  along  the  ridges  of  their  roofs? 

The  houses,  too,  are  often  set  in  elfin  situations. 
One  will  stand  at  the  crest  of  a  little  precipice 
with  a  minute  table-land  of  garden  back  of  it;  an- 
other will  nestle,  half  concealed,  in  a  small  sheltered 
basin  where  it  seems  to  have  grown  from  the  ground, 
along  with  the  trees  and  shrubbery  surrounding 
it — the  flowering  hedges  and  the  pines  with  branches 
like  extended  arms  in  drooping  green  kimono  sleeves; 
still  another  rises  at  the  border  of  a  pond  so  small 
that  in  a  land  less  toylike  it  would  hardly  be  a  pond.; 
yet  here  it  is  adorned  with  grotesquely  lovely  rocks 
and  overhanging  leaves  and  blooms,  and  in  the 
middle  of  it,  like  as  not,  will  be  an  island  hardly 
larger  than  a  cartwheel,  and  on  that  island  a  stone 
lantern  with  a  mushroom  top,  and  reaching  to  it 
from  the  shore  a  delicate  arched  bridge  of  wood 
beneath  which  drowsy  carp  and  goldfish  cruise, 
with  trailing  fins  and  rolling  ruminative  eyes. 

Just  as  one  better  understands  Hokusai  and  Hi- 
roshige  for  having  seen  the  coastal  hills,  one  under- 
stands them  better  for  having  seen  these  magic 
little  houses  with  their  settings  resembling  so  charm- 
ingly those  miniature  landscapes  made  with  moss, 
gravel,  small  rocks,  and  dwarf  trees,  arranged  in 
china  basins  by  a  Japanese  gardener,  who  is  some- 
times so  kind  as  to  let  us  see  his  productions  in  a 
window  on  Fifth  Avenue.  Often  one  feels  that 
Japan  herself  is  hardly  more  than  such  a  garden 


With  his  drum  and  his  monkey  he  is  Japan's  nearest  equiva- 
lent for  our  old-style  organ-grinder 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  23 

on  a  larger  scale.  Over  and  over  again  one  encoun- 
ters in  the  larger,  the  finish  and  fantastic  beauty  of 
the  smaller  garden.  And  when  one  does  encounter 
it,  one  is  happy  to  forget  the  politics  and  problems 
of  Japan,  and  to  think  of  the  whole  country  as  a 
curiously  perfect  table  decoration  for  the  parlour  of 
the  world. 

And  the  children!  Children  everywhere!  Children 
of  the  children  Kipling  wrote  of  thirty  years  ago, 
when  he  called  Japan 

".     .     .     the  land  of  Little  Children,  where  the 

Babies  are  the  Kings." 

Of  course  we  had  heard  about  the  children. 
Everyone  who  writes  about  Japan,  or  comes  home 
and  talks  about  Japan,  tells  you  about  them.  Yet 
somehow  you  must  witness  the  phenomenon  before 
you  grasp  the  fact  of  their  astonishing  profusion. 
Even  the  statistics,  showing  that  the  population 
of  Japan  increases  at  the  rate  of  from  400,000  to 
700,000  every  year,jdon't  begin  to  make  the  picture, 
though  they  do  make  apparent  the  fact  that  there 
are  several  million  children  of  ten  years  or  younger 
— about  two  thirds  of  whom  go  clattering  about  in 
wooden  clogs,  while  the  remainder  ride  on  the 
backs  of  their  parents  and  grandparents  and  brothers 
and  sisters.  All  in  a  country  smaller  than  the  State 
of  California. 

Children  alone,  children  in  groups  of  three  or 
four,  children  in  dozen  lots.  Children  in  all  sizes, 


24  MYSTERIOUS   JAPAN 

colourings,  attitudes,  and  conditions.  Children  block 
ing  the  roads,  playing  under  the  trees  or  in  them, 
romping  along  paths,  swarming  over  little  piles  of 
earth  like  bees  on  bell-shaped  hives.  Children 
watching  the  passing  cars,  children  in  tiny  skiffs, 
children  wading  in  ponds.  Children  glimpsed 
through  the  open  wood  and  paper  shoji  of  their 
matchbox  houses,  scampering  on  clean  matted 
floors  or  placidly  supping — the  larger  of  them 
squatting  before  trays  and  operating  nimble  chop- 
sticks, the  smaller  nursing  at  the  mother's  breast. 
(Sometimes  those  children  nursed  at  the  breast  are 
not  so  very  small — which  is  the  reason  why  so  many 
Japanese  have  over-prominent  teeth.)  Children 
brown  and  naked,  ragged  children,  children  in 
indigo  or  in  bright  flowered  kimonos  and  white 
aprons.  Demure  children,  wild  rampageous  chil- 
dren, children  with  shaved  heads,  children  with  jet- 
black  manes  bobbing  about  their  ears  and  faces  as 
they  run.  Chubby  children  with  merry  eyes  and 
cheeks  like  rosy  russet  apples.  Children  achieving 
the  impossible:  delighting  the  eye  despite  their 
dirty  little  noses. 

Can  it  be  that  they  pile  the  children  on  each 
others'  backs,  making  two  layers  of  them,  because 
there  isn't  room  upon  the  ground  for  all  of  them  at 
once?  Babies  riding  on  their  mothers'  backs  travel 
in  comparative  dignity  and  safety.  Under  their 
soft  little  mushroom  hats  they  sleep  through  many 
things — street-car  trips,  shopping  expeditions  and 
gabbling  parties  in  the  tea-rooms  of  department 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  25 

stores.  But  those  who  ride  the  shoulders  of  their 
elder  brothers  lead  lives  of  wild  adventure.  Their 
presence  is  not  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  progress 
of  young  masculine  life.  The  brother  will  climb 
trees,  walk  on  stilts  and  even  play  baseball,  seem- 
ingly unconscious  of  the  weight  and  the  fragility 
of  the  little  charge  attached  to  him  by  ties  of  blood 
and  cotton.  If  the  drowsy  baby  head  drops  over, 
getting  in  the  way,  the  brother  alters  its  position 
with  a  bump  from  the  back  of  his  own  head.  When 
the  small  rider  slips  down  too  far,  whether  on 
the  back  of  child  or  adult,  its  bearer  stoops  and  bucks 
like  a  broncho,  tossing  baby  into  place  again. 
Through  all  of  which  the  infant  generally  sleeps. 
Are  its  dreams  disturbed,  one  wonders,  when  big 
brother  slides  for  second-base  ?  I  doubt  it.  Knowing 
no  cradle,  no  easy-riding  baby  carriage,  the  Japanese 
baby  is  from  the  first  accustomed  to  a  life  of  action. 
It  seems  to  be  a  fatalist.  And  indeed  it  would 
appear  that  some  special  god  protects  the  baby, 
for  it  always  seems  to  go  unscathed. 

Sometimes  in  the  streets  the  children  outnumber 
their  elders  by  two  or  three  to  one.  Contemplating 
them  one  can  easily  fall  into  the  way  of  looking 
upon  adults  as  mere  adjuncts,  existing  only  to  wash 
the  children,  see  that  they  wear  aprons,  and  give 
them  their  meals. 


CHAPTER    III 

Growing  Tokyo—Architecture  and  Statuary— The  Western- 
ization of  Japan — The  Story  of  Costumes — Women's  Dress 
Advantages  of  Standardized  Styles — Selection  and  Rejection 

A  YOU  reach  the  outskirts  of  Tokyo  you 
think  you  are  coming  to  another  little 
town,  but  the  town  goes  on  and  on,  and 
finally  as  the  train  draws  near  the  city's  heart  large 
buildings,  bulking  here  and  there  above  the  general 
two-story  tile  roofline,  inform  you  in  some  measure 
of  the  importance  of  the  place.  In  1917  Tokyo 
ranked  fifth  among  the  cities  of  the  world,  with  a 
population  almost  equal  to  Berlin's,  and  it  seems 
likely  that  when  reliable  statistics  for  the  world 
become  available  again  we  shall  find  that  the  popula- 
tion of  Berlin  has  at  most  remained  stationary  ,v 
while  that  of  Tokyo  has  grown  even  more  rapidly 
than  usual,  owing  to  exceptional  industrial  activity 
*  and  to  the^influx  of  Russian  refugees^whose  presence 
in  large  numbers  in  Japan  has  created  a  housing 
problem.  Nor  shall  I  be  surprised  to  hear  that 
Tokyo  has  passed  Chicago  in  the  population  race, 
becoming  third  city  of  the  world. 

The  central  railroad  station  exhibits  the  capital's 
modern    architectural    trend.     It    is    conveniently 

26 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  27 

arranged  and  impressive  in  its  magnitude  as  seen 
across  the  open  space  on  which  it  faces,  but  there  its 
merit  stops.  Like  most  large  foreign-style  buildings 
in  Japan,  it  is  architecturally  an  ugly  thing.  Stand- 
ing at  the  gate  of  Japan's  chief  city,  it  has  about 
it  nothing  Japanese.  Its  fagade  is  grandiose  and 
meaningless,  and  as  one  turns  one's  back  upon  it 
and  sees  other  large  new  public  structures,  one  is 
saddened  by  the  discovery  that  the  Japanese,  skilful 
at  adaptation  though  they  have  often  shown  them- 
selves, have  signally  failed  to  adapt  the  requirements, 
methods,  and  materials  of  modern  building  to  their 
old  national  architectural  lines.  One  thing  is  certain, 
however:  there  will  be  no  new  public  buildings  more 
unsightly  than  those  already  standing.  This  style  of 
architecture  in  Japan  has  touched  bottom. 

In  twenty  years  or  so  I  believe  the  ugliness  of  these 
modern  piles  will  have  become  apparent  to  the 
Japanese.  It  will  dawn  upon  them  that  they  need 
not  go  to  Europe  and  America  for  architectural 
themes,  but  to  the  castle  of  Nagoya,  the  watch- 
towers  above  the  moat  of  the  Imperial  Palace,  the 
palace  gates,  and  the  temples  and  pagodas  every- 
where. 

When  this  time  comes  the  Japanese  will  also 
realize  how  very  bad  are  most  of  the  bronze  statues 
of  statesmen  and  military  leaders  throughout  the 
world,  and  how  particularly  bad  are  their  own  ad- 
ventures in  this  field  of  art. 

Until  I  saw  Tokyo  I  was  under  the  impression 
that  the  world's  worst  bronzes  were  to  be  found 


28  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

in  the  region  of  the  Mall  in  Central  Park,  New  York; 
but  there  is  in  Tokyo  a  statue  of  a  statesman  in  a 
frock  coat,  with  a  silk  hat  in  his  hand,  which  sur- 
passes any  other  awfulness  in  bronze  that  I  have 
ever  seen. 

Looking  at  such  things  one  marvels  that  they 
can  be  created  and  tolerated  in  a  land  which  has 
produced  and  still  produces  so  much  minute  loveli- 
ness in  pottery,  ivory,  and  wood.  How  can  these 
people,  who  still  know  flowing  silken  draperies, 
endure  to  see  their  heroes  cast  in  Prince  Albert 
coats  and  pantaloons?  And  how  can  they  adopt 
the  European  style  of  statuary,  when  in  so  many 
places  they  have  but  to  look  at  the  roadside  to  see 
an  ancient  monument  consisting  of  a  single  gigantic 
stone  with  unhewn  edges  and  a  flat  face  embellished 
only  with  an  inscription — simple,  dignified,  im- 
pressive. 

All  nations,  however,  have  their  periods  of  inno- 
vation-worship, and  if  Japan  has  sometimes  erred  in 
her  selections,  her  excuse  is  a  good  one.  She  did  not 
take  up  Western  ways  because  she  wanted  to.  She 
wished  to  remain  a  hermit  nation.  She  asked  of  the 
world  nothing  more  than  that  it  leave  her  alone. 
She  even  fired  on  foreign  ships  to  drive  them  from 
her  shores — which,  far  from  accomplishing  her  pur- 
pose, only  cost  her  a  bombardment.  Then,  in  1853, 
came  our  Commodore  Perry  and,  as  we  now  politely 
phrase  it,  "knocked  at  Japan's  door."  To  the 
Japanese  this  "knocking"  backed  by  a  fleet  of 
"big  black  ships,"  had  a  loud  and  ominous  sound. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  29 

The  more  astute  of  their  statesmen  saw  that  the 
summons  was  not  to  be  ignored.  Japan  must 
become  a  part  of  the  world,  and  if  she  would  save 
herself  from  the  world's  rapacity  she  must  quickly 
learn  to  play  the  world's  game.  Fourteen  years 
after  Perry's  visit  the  Shogunate,  which  for  seven 
centuries  had  suppressed  the  Imperial  family,  and 
itself  ruled  the  land,  fell,  and  the  late  Emperor, 
now  known  as  Meiji  Tenno — meaning  "Emperor  of 
Enlightenment " — came  from  his  former  capital  in  the 
lovely  old  city  of  Kyoto,  the  Boston  of  Japan,  and 
took  up  the  reins  of  government  in  Yedo — later  re- 
named Tokyo,  or  "Eastern  Capital" — occupying  the 
former  Shogun's  palace  which  is  the  Imperial  res- 
idence to  day. 

The  Meiji  Era  will  doubtless  go  down  as  the 
greatest  of  all  eras  in  Japanese  history,  and  as  one 
of  the  greatest  eras  in  the  history  of  any  nation. 
To  Viscount  Kaneko,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  work 
of  preparing  the  official  record  of  the  reign  for  pub- 
lication, President  Roosevelt  wrote  his  opinion  of 
what  such  a  book  should  be. 

"No  other  emperor  in  history,"  he  declared, 
"saw  his  people  pass  through  as  extraordinary  a 
transformation,  and  the  account  of  the  Emperor's 
part  in  this  transformation,  of  his  own  life,  of  the 
public  lives  of  his  great  statesmen  who  were  his 
servants  and  of  the  people  over  whom  he  ruled, 
would  be  a  work  that  would  be  a  model  for  all  time." 

Under  the  Emperor  Meiji,  Japan  made  breathless 
haste  to  westernize  herself,  for  she  was  determined 


30  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  save  herself  from  falling  under  foreign  domination. 
Small  wonder,  then,  if  in  her  haste  she  snatched 
blindly  at  any  innovation  from  abroad.  Small 
wonder  if  she  sometimes  snatched  the  wrong  thing. 
Small  wonder  if  she  sometimes  does  it  to  this  day. 
For  she  is  still  a  nation  in  a  state  of  flux;  you  seem 
to  feel  her  changing  under  your  very  feet. 

But  because  Japan  has  accepted  a  thing  it  does 
not  mean  that  she  has  accepted  it  for  ever.  In 
great  affairs  and  small,  her  history  illustrates  this 
fact.  A  case  in  point  is  the  story  of  European  dress. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago,  when  the  craze 
for  everything  foreign  was  at  its  height,  when  the 
whole  fabric  of  social  life  in  the  upper  world  was  in 
process  of  radical  change,  European  dress  became 
fashionable  not  only  for  men  but  for  women.  When 
great  ladies  had  worn  it  for  a  time  their  humbler 
sisters  took  it  up,  and  one  might  have  thought  that 
the  national  costume,  which  is  so  charming,  was 
destined  entirely  to  disappear. 

Men  attached  to  government  offices,  banks,  and 
institutions  tending  to  the  European  style  in  the  con- 
struction and  equipment  of  their  buildings,  had  some 
excuse  for  the  change,  since  the  fine  silks  of  Japan 
do  not  wear  so  well  as  tough  woollen  fabrics,  and 
the  loose  sleeves  tend  to  catch  on  door-knobs  and 
other  projections  not  to  be  found  in  the  Japanese 
style  of  building. 

But  in  Japan  more  than  in  any  other  country, 
"woman's  place  is  in  the  home,"  and  just  as  the 
Japanese  costume  is  not  well  suited  to  the  European 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  31 

style  of  building,  so  the  European  costume  is  not 
well  suited  to  the  Japanese  house  and  its  customs. 
For  in  the  Japanese  house  instead  of  sitting  on  a 
chair  one  squats  upon  a  cushion,  and  corsets,  stock- 
ings and  tight  skirts  were  not  designed  to  squat  in. 
Equally  important,  clogs  and  shoes  are  left  outside 
the  door  of  the  Japanese  house  in  winter  and  summer, 
and  as  in  the  winter  the  house  is  often  very  cold, 
having  no  cellar  and  only  small  braziers,  called 
hibachi,  to  give  warmth,  the  covering  afforded  the 
feet  by  the  skirts  of  a  Japanese  costume  is  very 
comforting.  Moreover,  the  Japanese  themselves 
declare  that  European  dress  is  not  becoming  to  their 
women,  being  neither  suited  to  their  figures  nor 
to  the  little  pigeon-toed  shuffle  which  is  so  fetching 
beneath  the  skirts  of  a  kimono. 

What  was  the  result  of  all  this? 

The  men  who  found  foreign  dress  useful  continued 
to  wear  it  for  business,  although  those  who  could 
afford  to  do  so  kept  a  Japanese  wardrobe  as  well. 
But  the  women,  to  whom  European  dress  was  only 
an  encumbrance,  discarded  it  completely,  so  that 
to-day  no  sight  is  rarer  in  Japan  than  that  of  a 
Japanese  woman  dressed  in  other  than  the  native 
costume. 

If  a  Japanese  lady  be  cursed  with  atrocious 
taste,  there  is  practically  no  way  to  find  it  out, 
no  matter  how  much  money  she  may  spend 
on  personal  adornment.  The  worst  that  she 
may  do  is  to  carry  her  clothes  less  prettily  than 
other  women  of  her  class.  The  lines  she  cannot 


32  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

change.  The  fabrics  are  prescribed.  The  colours 
are  restricted  in  accordance  with  her  age.  Her 
dress,  like  almost  every  other  detail  of  her  daily 
life,  is  regulated  by  a  rigid  code.  If  she  be  middle- 
aged  and  fat  she  cannot  make  herself  absurd  by 
dressing  as  a  debutante.  If  she  be  thin  she  cannot 
wear  an  evening  gown  cut  down  in  back  to  show 
a  spinal  column  like  a  string  of  wooden  beads.  Nor 
can  she  spend  a  fortune  upon  earrings,  bracelets, 
necklaces.  She  may  have  some  pretty  ornamental 
combs  for  her  black  lacquer  hair,  a  bar  pin  for  her 
obi,  a  watch,  and  perhaps,  if  she  be  very  much 
Americanized,  a  ring  and  a  mesh  bag.  A  hair- 
dresser she  must  have,  both  to  accomplish  that 
amazing  and  effective  coif  she  wears,  and  to  tell 
her  all  the  latest  gossip  (for  in  Japan,  as  elsewhere, 
the  hairdresser  is  famed  as  a  medium  for  the  trans- 
mission of  spicy  items  which  ought  not  to  be  trans- 
mitted) ;  but  her  pocketbook  is  free  from  the  assaults 
of  milliners;  hats  she  has  none;  only  a  draped  hood 
when  the  cold  weather  comes. 

The  feminine  costume  is  regulated  by  three  things: 
first,  by  the  age  of  the  wearer;  second,  by  the  season; 
third,  by  the  requirements  of  the  occasion.  The 
brightest  colours  are  worn  by  children;  the  best 
kimonos  of  children  of  prosperous  families  are  of 
silk  in  brilliant  flowered  patterns.  Their  pendant 
sleeves  are  very  long.  Young  unmarried  women 
also  wear  bright  colours  and  sleeves  a  yard  in  length. 
But  the  young  wife,  though  not  denied  the  use  of 
colour,  uses  it  more  sparingly  and  in  shades  rela- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  33 

lively  subdued;  and  the  pocket-like  pendants  of 
her  sleeves  are  but  half  the  length  of  those  of  her 
younger  unmarried  sister.  The  older  she  grows 
the  shorter  the  sleeve  pendants  become,  and  the 
darker  and  plainer  grows  her  dress. 

rln  hot  weather  a  kimono  of  light  silk,  often  white 
with  a  coloured  pattern,  is  worn  by  well-dressed 
women.  Beneath  this  there  will  be  another  light 
kimono  which  is  considered  underwear — though 
other  underwear  is  worn  beneath  itj  Japanese 
underwear  is  not  at  all  like  ours,  but  one  notices 
that  many  gentlemen  in  the  national  costume  adopt 
the  Occidental  flannel  undershirt,  wearing  it  be- 
neath their  silks  when  the  weather  is  cold — a  fact 
revealed  by  a  glimpse  of  the  useful  but  unlovely 
garment  rising  up  into  the  V-shaped  opening  formed 
by  the  collar  of  the  kimono  where  it  folds  over  at 
the  throat. 

As  with  us,  the  temperature  is  not  the  thing  that 
marks  the  time  for  changing  from  the  attire  of  one 
season  to  that  of  another.  Summer  arrives  on 
June  first,  whatever  the  weather  may  be.  On  that 
date  the  Tokyo  policeman  blossoms  out  in  white 
trousers  and  a  white  cap,  and  on  June  fifteenth 
he  confirms  the  arrival  of  summer  by  changing  his 
blue  coat  for  a  white  one.  So  with  ladies  of  fashion. 
Their  summer  is  from  June  first  to  September 
thirtieth;  their  autumn  from  October  first  to  Nov- 
ember thirtieth;  their  winter  from  December  first 
to  March  thirty-first;  their  spring  from  April  first 
to  May  thirty-first.  In  spring  the  brightest  colours 


34  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

are  worn.  Those  for  autumn  and  winter  are  gener- 
ally more  subdued. 

Young  ladies  wear  brilliant  kimonos  for  ceremonial 
dress,  but  ceremonial  dress  for  married  women 
consists  of  three  kimonos,  the  outer  one  of  black, 
though  those  beneath,  revealed  only  where  they 
show  a  V-shaped  margin  at  the  neck,  may  be  of 
lighter  coloured  silk.  rOn  the  exterior  kimono  the 
family  crest — some  emblem  generally  circular  in 
form,  such  as  a  conventionalized  flower  or  leaf 
design,  about  an  inch  in  diameter — appears  five 
times  in  white:  on  the  breast  at  either  side,  on  the 
back  of  either  sleeve  at  a  point  near  the  elbow,  and 
at  the  centre  of  the  back,  between  the  shoulder- 
blades^  i  Because  of  these  crests  the  goods  from 
which  the  kimono  is  made  have  to  be  dyed  to  order, 
the  crests  being  blocked  out  in  wax  on  the  original 
white  silk  so  that  the  dye  fails  to  penetrate.  Even 
the  under-kimonos  of  fashionable  ladies  will  have 
crests  made  in  this  way. 

With  the  kimono  a  Japanese  lady  always  wears 
a  neck-piece  called  an  eri  (pronounced  "airy"),  a 
long  straight  band  revealed  in  a  narrow  V-shaped 
margin  inside  the  neck  of  the  inner  kimono.  The 
eri  varies  in  colour,  material,  and  design  according 
to  the  wearer's  age,  the  occasion  and  the  season, 
and  it  may  be  remarked  that  embroidered  or  sten- 
cilled eri  in  bright  colourings  make  attractive  sou- 
venirs to  be  brought  home  as  gifts  to  ladies,  who  can 
wear  them  as  belts  or  as  bands  for  summer  hats. 

If  the  weather  be  cold  the  haori,  an  interlined  silk 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  35 

coat  hanging  to  the  knees  or  a  little  below,  is  worn 
over  the  kimono.  This  is  black,  with  crests,  or  of 
some  solid  colour,  not  too  gay.  A  young  lady's 
haori  is  sometimes  made  of  flowered  silk.  Men  also 
wear  the  haori,  but  the  man's  haori  is  always,black; 
and  while  a  man  will  wear  a  crested  haori  on  the 
most  formal  occasions,  a  woman  en  grande  tenue  will 
avoid  wearing  hers  whenever  possible  for  the  reason 
that  it  conceals  all  but  a  tiny  portion  of  the  article 
of  raiment  which  is  her  chief  pride:  namely  the  sash 
or  obi. 

The  best  obi  of  a  fashionable  woman  consists 
of  a  strip  of  heavy  brocaded  or  hand-embroidered 
silk,  folded  lengthwise  and  sewn  at  the  edges  making 
a  stiff  double  band  about  thirteen  inches  wide  and 
three  and  one  third  yards  long.  This  is  wrapped 
twice  around  the  waist  and  tied  in  a  large  flat  knot 
in  back,  the  mode  of  tying  varying  in  accordance 
with  the  age  of  the  wearer,  and  differing  somewhat 
in  divers  localities.  rThe  average  cost  of  a  fine  new 
obi  is,  I  believe,  about  two  hundred  dollars,  and  I 
have  heard  of  obi  costing  as  much  as  a  thousand 
dollars^  Some  of  the  less  expensive  ones  are  very 
pretty  also,  and  many  a  poor  woman  will  have  as  her 
chief  treasure  an  obi  worth  forty  or  fifty  dollars 
which  she  will  wear  only  on  great  occasions,  with  her 
best  silk  kimono. 

A  Tokyo  lady  notable  for  the  invariable  loveliness 
of  her  costumes  gives  me  the  following  information 
in  response  to  an  inquiry  as  to  the  cost  of  dressing. 

"As  our  style  never  changes,"  she  writes,  "we 


36  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

don't  have  to  buy  new  dresses  every  season,  as  our 
American  sisters  do.  When  a  girl  marries,  her  parents 
supply  her,  according  to  their  means,  with  complete 
costumes  for  all  seasons.  Sometimes  these  sets  will 
include  several  hundred  kimonos,  and  they  may  cost 
anywhere  from  two  thousand  to  twenty  thousand 
yen.  [A  yen  is  about  equal  to  half  a  dollar.] 

"So  if  a  girl  is  well  fitted  out  she  need  not  spend  a 
great  deal  on  dress  after  her  marriage.  A  couple 
of  hundred  yen  may  represent  her  whole  year's 
outlay  for  dress,  though  of  course  if  she  is  rich 
and  cares  a  great  deal  for  dress,  she  may  spend  several 
thousand. 

"Our  fashions  vary  only  in  colour  and  such  figures 
as  may  be  displayed  in  the  goods.  Therefore  they 
are  not  nearly  so  'busy'  as  your  fashions.  And 
we  can  always  rip  a  kimono  to  pieces,  dye  it,  and 
make  it  over." 

Some  other  items  I  get  from  this  lady:  When  a 
Japanese  girl  is  married  it  is  customary  for  the  bride's 
family  to  present  obi  to  the  ladies  of  the  groom's 
family.  For  a  funeral  the  entire  costume  including 
the  obi,  is  black,  save  for  the  white  crests.  Ladies 
of  the  family  of  the  deceased  wear  white  silk  kimonos 
without  crests,  and  white  silk  obi.  The  Japanese 
ladies'  costume,  put  on  to  the  best  advantage,  is  not 
so  comfortable  as  it  looks.  It  is  fitted  as  tight 
as  possible  over  the  chest,  to  give  a  flat  appearance, 
and  is  also  bound  tight  at  the  waist  to  hold  it  in 
position.  The  obi,  moreover,  is  very  stiff,  and  to 
look  well  must  also  be  tight. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  37 

The  more  select  geisha  are  said  to  attain  the  great- 
est perfection  of  style;  which  probably  means  merely 
that,  being  professional  entertainers  whose  sole 
business  it  is  to  please  men,  they  make  more  of 
a  study  of  dress,  and  spend  more  time  before  their 
mirrors  than  other  women  do. 

The  speed  with  which  women  reverted  to  the 
lovely  kimono  after  their  brief  experiment  with 
foreign  fashions,  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  a 
lurking  fear  in  Japanese  male  minds  that  along 
with  the  costume  their  women  might  adopt  per- 
nicious foreign  ways,  becoming  aggressive  and  in- 
tractable, like  American  women  who,  according 
to  the  Japanese  idea,  are  spoiled  by  their  men — 
precisely  as,  according  to  OUT  idea,  Japanese  men 
are  spoiled  by  their  women. 

But  whatever  the  reasons,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  Japanese  revealed  good  practical  judgment. 
They  kept  what  they  needed  and  discarded  the 
rest.  It  is  their  avowed  purpose  to  follow  this  rule 
in  all  situations  involving  the  acceptance  or  rejection 
of  western  innovations,  their  object  being  to  preserve 
the  national  customs  wherever  these  do  not  conflict 
with  the  requirements  of  the  hideous  urge  we  are 
pleased  to  term  "modern  progress."  This  is  a 
good  rule  to  follow,  and  if  we  but  knew  the  story 
of  the  period  when  Chinese  civilization  was  brought 
to  Japan,  nearly  fourteen  centuries  ago,  we  might 
perhaps  find  interesting  parallels  between  the  two 
eras  of  change. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Quakes  and  the  Building  Problem — Big  Quakes — Democracy 
in  Architecture — Narrow  Streets  and  Tiny  Shops — The  Ma- 
jestic Little  Policeman — The  Dread  of  Burglars — What  to 
Do  in  a  Quake— The  Man  Who  Went  Home— "Fire!"— A 
Ricksha  Ride  to  the  Wrong  Address — A  Front-Porch  Bath 

HAVE  I  given  the  impression  that  Tokyo  is 
a  disappointing  city  to  one  in  search  of 
things  purely  Japanese?  If  so  it  was  be- 
cause I  tarried  too  long  in  the  district  of  railroad 
stations  and  big  business.  Moreover,  to  the  prac- 
tical commercial  eye,  this  portion  of  the  city  must 
look  promising  indeed,  because  of  the  wide  streets 
and  the  new  building  going  on.  And  it  is  building 
of  a  kind  to  be  approved  by  the  man  of  commerce, 
for  in  her  new  edifices  Tokyo  is  adopting  steel- 
frame  construction. 

That  she  is  only  now  beginning  to  build  in  this 
way  is  not  due  to  inertia,  but  to  the  fact  that  earth- 
quakes complicate  her  building  problem.  The  tallest 
of  her  present  office  buildings  is,  I  believe,  but  seven 
stories  high,  and  I  have  heard  that  twice  as  much 
steel  was  employed  in  its  construction  as  would 
have  been  employed  in  a  similar  building  where 
earthquakes  did  not  enter  into  the  calculations 
of  the  architect. 

88 


The  Japanese  is  not  a  slave  to  his  possessions.    The  average 
family  can  move  its  household  goods  in  a  hand-cart  (Above) 

Sawing  and  planing  are  accomplished  with  a  pulling  instead 
of  a  driving  motion  (Below) 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  39 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  part 
that  earthquakes  play  in  establishing  the  character 
of  Japanese  cities.  There  will  never  be  skyscrapers 
in  Japan,  or  apartment  buildings  with  families 
piled  high  in  ah*.  The  family,  not  the  individual, 
is  the  social  unit  of  the  land,  and  the  private  house 
is  the  symbol  of  the  family.  Even  in  the  congested 
slums  of  Japanese  cities,  or  in  the  quarters  given 
over  to  the  pitiful  outcast  class  called  eta,  each 
family  has  its  house,  though  the  house  may  consist 
only  of  a  single  room  no  larger  than  a  woodshed 
and  may  harbour  an  appalling  number  of  people, 
as  miserable  and  as  crowded  as  those  of  the  poorest 
slums  in  the  United  States. 

Though  the  seismograph  records  an  average  of 
about  four  earthquakes  a  day,  most  of  the  shocks 
are  too  slight  to  be  felt.  Tokyo  is  however,  con- 
scious of  about  fifty  shocks  a  year.  But  she  has 
not  had  a  destructive  earthquake  since  1894,  nor  a 
great  disaster  since  1855,  when  most  of  the  city  was 
shaken  down  or  burned,  and  100,000  persons  perished. 

Minor  shocks  receive  but  little  attention.  In 
fact  by  many  they  are  regarded  with  favour,  on 
the  assumption  that  they  tend  to  reduce  pressure 
in  the  boiler-room,  preventing  savage  visitations. 
However,  these  do  occasionally  occur  and  on  the 
seacoast  they  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  tidal 
waves  which  ravage  long  stretches  of  shore,  wiping 
out  towns  and  villages. 

Earthquake  shocks  are  sometimes  accompanied 
by  terrifying  subterranean  sounds.  Scientists  have 


40  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

their  ways  of  accounting  for  all  these  things,  but 
the  man  who  really  knows  is  the  old  peasant  of  the 
seacoast  village.  He  can  tell  you  what  really 
causes  the  earth  to  tremble.  It  is  the  wrigglings 
of  a  pair  of  giant  fish  called  Namazu,  whiskered 
creatures  somewhat  resembling  catfish,  which  in- 
habit the  bowels  of  the  earth  and  support  upon 
their  backs  the  Islands  of  Japan. 

Even  though  the  quakes  are  slight,  they  serve 
to  keep  in  people's  minds  certain  unpleasant  possi- 
bilities; and  these  possibilities  are,  as  I  have  said, 
acknowledged  in  the  structure  of  Japanese  houses. 
Two  stories  is  the  maximum  height  for  a  residence, 
and  even  tea-houses  and  hotels  are  seldom  more  than 
three  stories  high.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that 
everyone  who  can  afford  it  has  a  garden,  causes 
Japanese  cities  to  spread  enormously. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Japanese  requires  fewer 
rooms  than  we  do;  his  home  life  is  simple  and  he  is 
less  a  slave  to  his  possessions  than  any  other  civilized 
human  being.  The  average  family  can  move  its 
household  goods  in  a  hand-cart.  Even  the  houses  of 
the  rich  are  not  blatant  except  in  a  few  cases  in  which 
florid  European  architecture  has  been  attempted. 
The  difference  between  the  houses  of  the  rich  and 
of  the  poor  is  in  degree,  not  in  kind.  As  with  the 
Japanese  costume,  the  essential  lines  do  not  vary. 

This  democracy  in  architecture  is  restful  to  the 
eye  and  to  the  senses.  It  gives  the  streets  of  Tokyo 
— excepting  the  important  thoroughfares — a  sort 
of  small-town  look.  Nor  is  a  great  metropolis 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  41 

suggested  by  the  old  narrow  streets,  with  their 
bazaar-like  open  shop  fronts,  their  banner-like 
awnings  of  blue  and  white,  and  their  colourful  dis- 
plays of  fish,  fresh  vegetables,  fruits,  wooden  clogs, 
curios,  and  many  other  objects  less  definable,  the 
possible  uses  of  which  entice  the  alien  wayfarer 
to  speculation  or  investigation. 

I  never  got  enough  of  prowling  in  the  narrow 
streets  of  Tokyo,  staring  into  shops  (and  sometimes, 
I  fear,  into  houses) ,  watching  various  artisans  carrying 
on  home  industries,  wondering  what  were  the  legends 
displayed  in  Chinese  characters  on  awnings,  banners 
and  lacquered  signs;  stumbling  now  upon  an  ancient 
wayside  shrine,  now  upon  a  shop  full  of  "two-and-a- 
half-puff  pipes,"  tobacco  pouches  for  the  male  and 
female  users  of  such  pipes,  and  netsuke  (large  buttons 
for  attaching  pipe-cases  and  pouches  to  the  sash) 
carved  in  delightfully  fantastic  forms;  now  upon 
a  tea-shop  full  of  tall  coloured  earthenware  urns, 
shaped  like  the  amphorae  of  ancient  Rome  and 
marked  with  baffling  black  ideographs.  ^Now  I 
would  discover  a  tea-house  on  the  brink  of  a  stream, 
its  balconies  abloom  with  little  geisha,  its  portals 
protected  from  impurity  by  three  small  piles  of  salt; 
now  it  would  be  a  geisha  quarter  I  was  in,  and  I 
would  hear  the  drum  and  flute  and  samisen;  or 
again  I  would  discover  a  little  shop  with  Japanese 
prints  for  sale,  and  would  enter  and  drink  green 
tea  with  the  silk-robed  proprietor,  bagging  the  knees 
of  my  trousers  and  cramping  my  legs  by  squatting 
for  an  hour  to  look  at  his  wares.j 


42  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Heavy  wheeled  traffic  was  not  contemplated 
when  the  narrow  streets  of  Tokyo  were  laid  out. 
From  the  most  attenuated  of  them,  automobiles 
and  carriages  are  automatically  excluded  by  their 
size,  while  from  others  they  are  excluded  by  the 
policeman  who  inhabits  the  white  kiosk  on  the 
corner.  The  policeman  has  discretionary  power, 
and  if  you  have  good  reason  for  wishing  to  drive 
down  a  narrow  street  he  will  sometimes  let  you  do 
so,  granting  the  permission  coldly.  He  is  a  majestic 
little  figure.  He  wears  a  sword  and  is  treated  as  a 
personage. 

Naturally,  the  first  consideration  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  Japanese  house  is  flexibility.  In  an  earth- 
quake a  house  should  sway.  Earthquakes  are  thus 
responsible  for  the  general  use  of  wood,  which  is  in 
turn  responsible  for  the  frequency  of  fires.  And 
next  to  earthquakes,  fires  are  regarded  by  the 
Japanese  as  their  greatest  menace. 

Third  on  the  list  of  things  feared  and  abhorred 
comes  the  burglar.  I  doubt  that  there  are  more 
burglars  in  Japan  than  elsewhere,  or  that  the  Japan- 
ese burglar  is  more  murderous  than  the  average  gen- 
tleman of  his  profession  in  other  lands,  but  for  some 
reason  he  is  more  thought  about.  This  may  be  be- 
cause of  the  vicious  knife  he  carries,  or  it  may  be 
because  Japanese  houses  are  so  easy  to  get  into.  In 
the  daytime  one  would  only  have  to  push  a  hand 
through  the  paper  shoji  and  undo  the  catch — which 
is  about  as  strong  as  a  hairpin.  At  night  one  might 
need  a  cigar-box  opener.  At  all  events,  it  is  for  fear 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  43 

of  burglars  that  the  Japanese  householder  barricades 
himself,  after  dark,  behind  a  layer  of  unperf orated 
wooden  shutters,  which  are  slid  into  place  in  grooves 
outside  those  in  which  the  shoji  slide.  If  the  shut- 
ters keep  out  burglars  they  also  keep  out  air;  and 
even  though  you  may  be  willing  to  risk  the  entrance 
of  the  former  with  the  latter,  the  police  will  not 
permit  you  to  leave  your  shutters  open — not  if 
they  catch  you  at  it. 

I  made  some  inquiries  as  to  the  course  to  be  pur- 
sued in  the  event  of  burglary,  fire,  or  severe  earth- 
quakes. 

In  earthquakes  people  act  differently.  I  asked 
our  maid,  Yuki,  what  she  did,  and  found  that,  when 
in  a  foreign-style  house,  she  would  crouch  beside  a 
wardrobe  or  other  heavy  piece  of  furniture  which  she 
thought  would  protect  her  if  the  ceiling  should  come 
down. 

"But  what  if  the  wardrobe  should  fall  over  on 
you?"  I  asked. 

Yuki,  however,  was  not  planning  for  that  kind  of 
an  earthquake. 

In  a  Japanese  house  one  need  not  worry  about  the 
ceiling,  as  it  is  of  wood;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  most 
of  the  ceilings  in  foreign-style  houses  are  of  sheet 
metal. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  most  intelligent  thing  to 
do  in  an  earthquake  is  to  stand  in  the  arch  of  a  door- 
way; certainly  it  is  a  bad  plan  to  try  to  run  out  of 
the  house,  as  many  people,  attempting  that,  have 
been  killed  by  falling  fragments. 


44  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

One  night  I  got  a  letter  from  a  friend  at  home. 
" Try  to  be  in  a  little  earthquake,"  he  wrote.  "They 
build  their  houses  for  them,  don't  they?" 

In  the  middle  of  that  same  night  a  little  earth- 
quake came,  as  though  on  invitation.  The  bed- 
springs  swung;  the  doors  and  windows  rattled. 

At  breakfast  next  morning  I  asked  my  hostess, 
an  American  lady  who  has  lived  most  of  her  life  in 
Japan,  whether  she  had  felt  the  tremor. 

"I  always  feel  them,"  she  said.  "They  bother 
me  more  and  more.  In  the  last  few  years  I  have 
got  into  the  habit  of  waking  up  a  minute  or  two 
before  the  shocks  begin." 

"What  do  you  do  then?"  I  asked. 

"I  lie  still,"  she  said,  "until  the  shaking  stops. 
Then  I  wake  my  husband  and  scold  him." 

The  husband  of  this  lady  told  me  of  a  man  he 
knew,  an  American,  who  came  out  to  Japan  some 
years  ago  on  business,  intending  to  stay  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  On  landing  in  Yokohama  he  went 
directly  to  the  office  of  the  company  with  which 
he  was  connected,  and  had  hardly  stepped  in  when 
the  city  was  violently  shaken. 

By  the  time  the  shocks  were  over  he  had  changed 
all  his  plans. 

"Nothing  could  induce  me  to  stay  in  a  country 
where  this  sort  of  things  goes  on,"  he  said.  "I 
shall  take  the  next  boat  back  to  San  Francisco." 

He  did — and  arrived  just  in  time  for  the  great 
San  Francisco  quake. 

The  course  to  take  in  case  of  fire  is  the  same  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  45 

world  over.  Shout  "Fire!"  in  the  language  of  the 
country  and  try  to  put  the  fire  out. 

But  if  you  find  a  burglar  in  your  room  don't 
shout  the  Japanese  word  for  "burglars,"  even  if 
you  know  it — which  I  do  not.  The  thing  to  shout 
is  "Fire!" — so  I  am  advised  by  a  Japanese  friend, 
who,  I  am  sure,  has  my  best  interests  at  heart. 
For  if  you  shout  "Fire!"  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
the  neighbours,  fearing  that  the  fire  will  spread 
to  their  own  houses,  rush  to  your  assistance;  whereas 
if  you  cry  "Burglars! "  it  merely  gives  them  gooseflesh 
as  they  lie  abed. 

Many  times  it  happened  in  Tokyo  that  when  I 
was  bound  on  a  definite  errand  somewhere,  the 
chauffeur  or  the  ricksha  coolie  would  land  me  miles 
from  my  intended  destination.  There  are  three 
reasons  why  this  happened  so  often.  First,  Tokyo 
is  a  very  difficult  place  in  which  to  find  one's  way 
about.  Second,  addresses  in  Tokyo  are  not  always 
given  by  street  number,  but  by  wards  and  districts, 
and  there  are  tricks  about  some  addresses,  as,  for 
instance,  the  fact  that  22  Shiba  Park  isn't  on  Shiba 
Park  at  all,  but  is  a  block  or  two  distant  from  the 
park's  margin.  And  third,  though  the  language  in 
which  I  told  the  chauffeur  or  the  kurumaya  where 
to  go,  was  offered  in  good  faith  as  Japanese,  it  was 
nine  times  out  of  ten  not  Japanese,  but  a  dead  lan- 
guage— a  language  that  was  dead  because  I  myself 
had  murdered  it. 

In  some  other  city  I  might  have  felt  annoyance 
over  being  delivered  at  the  wrong  address.  But  in 


46  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Tokyo  I  never  really  cared  where  I  was  going,  I 
found  it  all  so  charming. 

Once  a  kurumaya  trotted  with  me  for  three  hours 
around  the  city  to  reach  a  place  he  should  have 
reached  in  one.  I  knew  I  would  be  hours  late  for 
my  appointment.  I  knew  I  ought  to  fret.  But 
did  I?  No!  Because  of  all  the  things  that  I  was 
seeing. 

I  saw  the  bean-curd  man  jogging  along  the  street 
with  a  long  rod  over  his  shoulder,  at  each  end  of 
which  was  suspended  a  box  of  tofu,  which  he  an- 
nounced at  intervals  by  a  blast  on  a  little  brass 
horn : ' '  Ta — ta :  teey a ;  tee-e-e — ta ! "  I  saw  a  thicket 
of  bamboo.  I  saw  a  diminutive  farmhouse,  with 
mud  walls  and  a  deep  straw  thatch,  and  in  the  door- 
way was  a  bent  old  white-haired  woman  seated  at  a 
wooden  loom,  weaving  plaid  silk.  And  behind  the 
bamboo  fence  and  the  flowering  hedge,  stood  a 
cherry  tree  in  blossom. 

It  began  to  rain.  In  any  other  land  I  might  have 
felt  annoyance  over  so  much  rain  as  we  were  having. 
But  not  so  in  Japan.  Japan  could  not  look  gloomy 
if  it  tried.  Rain  makes  the  landscape  greener  and 
the  flowers  fresher.  It  makes  the  coolies  put  on 
bristling  capes  of  straw  which  shed  the  water  as  a 
bird's  feathers  do,  and  transform  the  wearer  into 
a  gigantic  yellow  porcupine.  It  makes  the  people 
leave  off  the  little  cotton  shoes,  called  tabi,  and  go 
barefoot  in  their  clogs.  It  makes  them  change 
their  usual  clogs  for  tall  ones  lifted  up  on  four-inch 
stilts;  and  these  as  they  scrape  along  the  pavement 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  47 

give  off  a  musical  "clotch-clotch,"  which  is  some- 
times curiously  tuned  in  two  keys,  one  for  either 
foot.  It  brings  out  huge  coloured  Japanese  umbrel- 
las of  bamboo  and  oiled  paper,  with  black  bull's- 
eyes  at  their  centres,  and  a  halo  of  little  points 
around  their  outside  edges.  And  as  you  go  splashing 
by  them  with  your  kurumaya  ringing  his  little  bell, 
the  women  turn  their  great  umbrellas  sidewise, 
resting  the  margins  of  them  in  the  road  to  keep 
their  kimonos  from  being  splattered.  And  even 
then  they  do  not  look  at  you  severely.  They 
understand  that  you  can't  help  it.  And  are  you 
not,  moreover,  that  lordly  creature,  Man,  whereas 
they  are  merely  women? 

All  these  things  I  saw  while  I  was  lost,  that 
afternoon.  Then,  just  when  I  might  have  begun 
to  wonder  if  I  was  ever  going  to  reach  my  destina- 
tion, what  did  I  see? 

Under  the  eaves  of  a  thatched  house  beside  the 
way  a  bronze  young  mother  and  three  children, 
all  innocent  of  clothing  and  self-consciousness, 
preparing  to  get  into  a  great  wooden  barrel  of  a 
bathtub.  You  never  saw  a  sweeter  family  picture! 
.  .  .  Yes,  the  Japanese  are  peculiarly  a  clean 
race.  It  is  not  merely  hearsay.  It  is  a  front- 
porch  fact. 

Could  any  man  lose  patience  with  a  kurumaya 
who  can  get  him  lost  and  make  him  like  it? 


CHAPTER    V 

Reversed  Ideas — Some  Advantages  of  Old  Age — Morbidity 
and  Suicide — High  Necks  and  Long  Skirts — Language— 
— Chinese  Characters  and  Kana — Calligraphy  as  a  Fin 
Art— The  Oriental  Mind— False  Hair— The  Mystery  of  th 
Bamboo  Screens — A  Note  on  Cats  at  Cripple  Creek — Th 
Occidental  Mind 

ON  THE  day  of  my  arrival  in  Japan  I  startec 
a  list  of  things  which  according  to  our  ideai 
the  Japanese  do  backwards — or  which  ac 
cording  to  their  ideas  we  do  backwards.  I  sup 
pose  that  every  traveller  in  Japan  has  kept  som< 
such  record.  My  list,  beginning  with  the  observa 
tion  that  their  books  commence  at  what  we  cal 
the  back,  that  the  lines  of  type  run  down  the  pag< 
instead  of  across,  and  that  "foot-notes"  are  printe< 
at  the  top  of  the  page,  soon  grew  to  consider 
able  proportions.  Almost  every  day  I  had  beei 
able  to  add  an  item  or  two,  and  every  time  I  die 
so  I  found  myself  playing  with  the  fancy  that  sucl 
contrarieties  ought  in  some  way  to  be  associate* 
with  the  fact  that  we  stand  foot-to-foot  with  th< 
Japanese  upon  the  globe. 

The  Japanese  method  of  beckoning  would,  to  us 
signify  "go  away  " ;  boats  are  beached  stern  foremost 
horses  are  backed  into  their  stalls;  sawing  anc 

48 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  49 

planing  are  accomplished  with  a  pulling  instead  of  a 
driving  motion;  keys  turn  in  their  locks  in  a  reverse 
direction  from  that  customary  with  us.  In  the 
Japanese  game  of  Go,  played  on  a  sort  of  checker- 
board, the  pieces  are  placed  not  within  the  squares 
but  over  the  points  of  linear  intersection.  During 
the  day  Japanese  houses,  with  their  sliding  walls 
of  wood  and  paper,  are  wide  open,  but  at  night 
they  are  enclosed  with  solid  board  shutters  and 
people  sleep  practically  without  ventilation.  At 
the  door  of  a  theatre  or  a  restaurant  the  Japanese 
check  their  shoes  instead  of  their  hats;  their  sweets, 
if  they  come  at  all,  are  served  early  in  the  meal 
instead  of  toward  the  end;  men  do  their  sake  drinking 
before  rather  than  after  the  meal,  and  instead  of 
icing  the  national  beverage  they  heat  it  in  a  kettle. 
Action  in  the  theatre  is  modelled  not  on  life  but  on 
the  movements  of  dolls  in  marionette  shows,  and 
in  the  classic  No  drama  the  possibility  of  showing 
emotion  by  facial  expression  is  eliminated  by  the 
use  of  carved  wooden  masks. 

Instead  of  slipping  her  thread  through  the  eye 
of  her  needle  a  Japanese  woman  slips  the  eye  of  her 
needle  over  the  point  of  her  thread;  she  reckons 
her  child  one  year  old  on  the  day  it  is  born  and  two 
years  old  on  the  following  New  Year's  Day.  Thus, 
when  an  American  child  born  on  December  thirty- 
first  is  counted  one  day  old,  a  Japanese  child  born 
on  the  same  day  is  counted  two  years  old. 

Once  when  I  was  dining  at  the  house  of  a  Japanese 
family  who  had  resided  for  years  in  New  York, 


50  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

their  little  daughter  came  into  the  room.  Hearing 
her  speaking  English,  I  asked: 

"How  old  are  you?" 

"Five  and  six,"  she  answered.  Then  she  added, 
by  way  of  explanation,  that  five  was  her  "American 
age"  and  six  her  "Japanese  age." 

Old  age  is  accepted  gracefully  in  Japan,  and  is, 
moreover,  highly  honoured.  Often  you  will  find  men 
and  women  actually  looking  forward  to  their  declin- 
ing years,  knowing  that  they  will  be  kindly  and  re- 
spectfully treated  and  that  their  material  needs  will 
be  looked  after  by  their  families.  Old  gentlemen 
and  ladies  are  pleased  at  being  called  grandfather 
and  grandmother — o-ji-san  and  oba  san — by  those 
who  know  them  well,  and  elderly  unmarried  women 
like  similarly  to  be  called  oba  san — aunt.  The  same 
terms  are  also  used  in  speaking  to  aged  servants 
and  peasants  whom  one  does  not  know,  but  to  whom 
one  wishes  to  show  amiability. 

The  duty  of  the  younger  to  the  older  members 
of  a  family  does  not  stop  with  near  relatives,  but 
includes  remote  ones,  wherefore  poorhouses  have 
until  quite  recently  been  considered  unnecessary. 

It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  most  striking 
differences  between  the  two  nations  is  revealed  in 
the  attitude  of  Japanese  school  and  college  boys. 
Instead  of  killing  themselves  at  play — at  football 
and  in  automobile  accidents — as  is  the  way  of  our 
student  class,  Japanese  boys  not  infrequently  under- 
mine their  health  by  overstudy,  and  now  and  then 
one  hears  that  a  student,  having  failed  to  pass  his 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  51 

examinations,  has  thrown  himself  over  the  Falls  of 
Kegon  at  Nikko.  Undoubtedly  there  is  a  morbid 
strain  in  the  Japanese  nature.  Translations  of  the 
works  of  unwholesome  European  authors  have  a  large 
sale  in  Japan,  and  suicides  are  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  student  class.  Poisoning,  and  plunging 
before  an  oncoming  locomotive  are  favourite  methods 
of  self-destruction.  Once  when  I  was  riding  on  an 
express  train  I  felt  the  emergency  brakes  go  on 
suddenly.  A  moment  after  we  had  stopped  I  saw 
a  woman  running  rapidly  away  on  a  banked  path 
between  two  flooded  rice-fields  with  a  couple  of 
trainmen  in  pursuit.  They  caught  her,  but  after 
a  few  minutes'  agitated  talk  during  which  they  shook 
her  by  the  sleeves  as  though  for  emphasis,  let  her 
go.  We  were  told  that  the  engineman  had  seen 
her  sitting  on  the  track.  Two  or  three  days  later 
I  read  in  a  newspaper  that  a  woman  had  committed 
suicide  beneath  a  train  at  about  the  place  where  I 
witnessed  this  episode.  Her  husband,  the  paper 
said,  had  deserted  her.  I  suppose  it  was  the  same 
woman. 

Another  curious  inversion  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Japanese  point  of  view  concerning  woman's  dress — 
and  undress.  I  have  been  told  that  our  style 
of  evening  gown,  revealing  shoulders,  arms  and 
ankles  (to  state  the  matter  mildly),  does  not  strike 
the  Japanese  as  modest.  Certainly  the  mandate 
of  the  Japanese  Imperial  Court  is  not  the  same  as 
that  of  the  French  modiste  (how  curiously  and  in- 
appropriately the  word  suggests  our  word  "mod- 


52  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

dest"!)  for  whereas,  at  the  time  of  writing,  the  latter 
decrees  skirts  of  hardly  more  than  knee  length,  the 
former  decrees,  for  ladies  being  presented  at  court, 
skirts  that  touch  the  ground.  Considering  the  fore- 
going facts  it  is,  however,  somewhat  perplexing  to 
the  Occidental  mind  to  find  that  men  and  women 
often  dress  and  undress,  in  Japanese  inns,  with  their 
bedroom  shoji  wide  open,  and  that  furthermore  they 
meet  in  the  bath  without,  apparently,  the  least  em- 
barrassment. 

Like  the  English,  the  Japanese  are  persistent 
bathers,  but  whereas  the  English  take  cold  baths 
the  Japanese  bathe  in  water  so  hot  that  we  could 
hardly  stand  it.  And  when  they  have  bathed 
they  dry  themselves  with  a  small,  damp  towel, 
which  they  use  as  a  sort  of  mop. 

Also  like  the  English  they  drive  to  the  left  of  the 
road.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  that,  but  some 
of  their  other  customs  of  the  road  surprise  one. 
Wherever  they  have  not  been  "civilized"  out  of 
their  native  courtesy  you  will  find  that  one  chauffeur 
dislikes  to  overtake  and  pass  another.  Surely  to 
an  American  this  is  an  inversion!  When  a  pro- 
cession of  automobiles  is  going  along  a  road  and 
one  of  them  is  for  some  reason  required  to  stop, 
the  cars  which  follow  do  not  blow  their  horns  and 
dash  by  in  delight  and  a  cloud  of  dust,  but  draw  up 
behind  the  stationary  car;  and  if  it  becomes  neces- 
sary for  them  to  go  on,  the  chauffeurs  who  do  so 
apologize  for  passing.  This  custom,  which  is  dying 
out,  comes,  I  fancy,  from  that  of  ricksha-men, 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  53 

who  never  overtake  and  pass  each  other  on  the  road, 
but  always  fall  in  behind  the  slowest  runner,  getting 
their  pace  from  him,  protecting  him  against  the 
complaints  which  his  passenger  would  make  if 
others  were  continually  coming  up  behind  and 
going  by. 

Of  all  differences,  however,  none  is  more  pro- 
nounced than  that  of  language.  Instead  of  a  sim- 
ple alphabet  like  ours,  the  fairly  educated  Japan- 
ese must  know  two  or  three  thousand  Chinese 
ideographs,  and  a  highly  cultivated  person  will 
know  several  thousand  more.  To  be  sure,  there 
is  a  simple  way  of  writing  by  a  phonetic  system, 
not  unlike  shorthand,  which  is  called  kana.  Every 
Japanese  can  read  kana,  which  is  sometimes  also 
mastered  by  foreigners  long  resident  in  Japan. 
There  are  but  forty-eight  characters  in  kana,  and 
as  th.e  characters  have  in  themselves  no  meaning, 
but  signify  only  a  set  of  sounds,  they  can  be  used 
to  write  English  names  as  well  as  Japanese  words. 
My  own  name  is  written  in  kana  characters  hav- 
ing the  following  sounds:  Su-to-rii-fo — which  being 
spoken  in  swift  succession  produce  a  sound  not  un- 
like "Street." 

The  Chinese  ideographs  used  by  the  Japanese 
have  the  same  forms  as  the  characters  used  in 
China,  but  are  pronounced  in  an  entirely  differ- 
ent way,  so  that  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  can 
read  each  other's  writing,  yet  cannot  talk  together. 
Books^  and  newspapers  published  in  Japan  are 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

printed  in  a  mixture  of  Chinese  characters  and 
kana,  and  there  is,  moreover,  beside  each  Chinese 
character  in  newspapers  a  tiny  line  of  kana  giving 


to 


a  character  denot- 
ing that  the  pre- 
ceding syllable  is 
long 


to 


Dono  or  Esquire — 
""         a  Chinese  character 


the  sound  of  the  word  represented.  In  this  way  a 
reader  of  newspapers  gets  continual  instruction  in 
the  written  language  and  finally  comes  to  know  the 
most  frequently  used  words  from  the  ideographs, 
without  referring  to  the  kana  interpretation.  Thus 
there  are  actually  two  ways  of  reading  a  Japanese 
paper.  A  thoroughly  educated  man  reads  the  ideo- 
graphs, while  a  poorly  educated  one  reads  the  kana, 


wao      e  ,    j ....     J       >  >      • 

A    >     ,  ^  ;   ;:^  »v 

*o*  /°*a  *»•  •  •»       J  J  '   ^   ^^  ^ 


Che  bath  of  the  proletariat  consists  of  a  large  barrel  with  a 
charcoal  stove  attached.     Frequently  it  stands  out  of  doors 


/**   *   «     •  **•»»•  i*«  j 
MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN'*          55 

which  gives  him  the  sound  of  a  word  that  he  knows 
by  ear,  though  he  does  not  know  it  by  sight  when  it 
is  written  in  the  classic  character.  These  conditions, 
of  course,  eliminate  the  use  of  our  sort  of  typewriter, 
though  there  is  an  extremely  complicated  and  slow 
Japanese  typewriter  which  is  used  chiefly  where 
carbon  copies  are  required.  Also,  they  render  the 
use  of  the  linotype  impracticable,  and  make  hand- 
typesetting  an  extremely  complicated  trade.  The 
difficulty  of  learning  the  Chinese  characters,  more- 
over, makes  it  necessary  for  students  to  remain  in 
school  and  college  several  years  longer  than  is  the  case 
with  us.  There  is  a  movement  on  foot  to  Romanize 
the  Japanese  language,  just  as  in  this  country  there 
is  a  movement  to  adopt  the  metric  system;  but  prac- 
tical though  such  improvements  would  be  in  both 
cases,  the  realization  of  them  is,  I  fear,  far  distant, 
because  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  making  the 
change.  And,  indeed,  from  the  standpoint  of  pict- 
uresqueness,  I  should  be  sorry  to  see  the  Chinese 
characters  discarded,  for  they  are  fascinating  not  only 
in  form  but  by  reason  of  the  very  fact  that  we  never, 
by  any  chance,  know  what  they  mean. 

The  Japanese  write  with  a  brush  dipped  in  water 
and  rubbed  on  a  stick  of  India-ink;  they  seem  to 
push  the  brush,  writing  with  little  jabs,  instead  of 
drawing  it  after  the  hand,  even  though  they  write 
down  the  column.  Calligraphy  is  with  them  a  fine 
art;  and  beautiful  brushwork,  such  as  we  look  for  in  a 
masterly  painting,  is  a  mark  of  cultivation.  Because 
of  their  drilling  with  the  brush  almost  all  educated 


56  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Japanese  can  draw  pictures.  Short  poems  and 
aphorisms  written  in  large  characters  by  famous 
men  are  mounted  on  gold  mats  and  hung  like  paint- 
ings in  the  homes  of  those  so  fortunate  as  to  possess 
them.  A  scription  from  the  hand  of  General  Count 
Nogi  or  Prince  Ito  would  be  treasured  by  a  Japanese 
as  we  would  treasure  one  from  the  hand  of  Lincoln 
or  Roosevelt — possibly  even  more  so,  for  where  a 
letter  from  one  of  our  great  men  has  a  sentimental 
and  historical  value,  a  piece  of  writing  from  one 
of  their  great  men  has  these  values  plus  the  merit 
of  being  a  work  of  art.  Such  bits  of  writing  bring 
large  prices  when  put  up  at  auction,  and  forgeries 
are  not  uncommon. 

In  its  structure  the  Japanese  language  is  the  anti- 
thesis of  ours.  Lafcadio  Hearn  declares  that  no 
adult  Occidental  can  perfectly  master  it.  "Could 
you  learn  all  the  words  in  the  Japanese  dictionary," 
he  writes,  "your  acquisition  would  not  help  you 
in  the  least  to  make  yourself  understood  in  speaking, 
unless  you  learned  also  to  think  like  a  Japanese — 
that  is  to  say,  to  think  backward,  to  think  upside 
down  and  inside  out,  to  think  in  directions  totally 
foreign  to  Aryan  habit." 

The  simplest  English  sentence  translated  word  for 
word  into  Japanese  would  be  meaningless,  and  the 
simplest  Japanese  sentence,  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, equally  so.  To  illustrate,  I  choose  at  random 
from  my  phrase  book:  "Please  write  the  address  in 
Japanese."  The  translation  is  given  as:  Doka  Nihon 
no  moji  de  tokoro  wo  kaite  kudasai.  But  that  sentence 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  57 

translated  back  into  English,  word  for  word,  gives 
this  result:  "Of  beseeching  Japan  of  words  with  a 
place  write  please."  And  there  is  one  word,  wo, 
which  is  untranslatable,  being  a  particle  which, 
following  the  word  tokoro,  "a  place,"  indicates  it 
as  the  object  of  the  verb. 

I  shall  mention  but  one  more  inversion.  The 
Japanese  use  no  profanity.  If  they  wish  to  be 
insulting  or  abusive  they  omit  the  customary 
honorifics  from  their  speech,  or  else  go  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  inserting  honorifics  in  a  manner 
so  elaborate  as  to  convey  derision. 

Numerous  and  curious  though  these  reversals  be, 
they  are  but  the  merest  surface  ripples  upon  the 
deep,  dark,  pool  of  Japanese  thought  and  custom. 

At  first  I  did  not  quite  grasp  this  fact.  In  my 
early  days  in  Japan,  when  I  was  asking  questions 
about  everything,  it  sometimes  looked  to  me  as 
if  the  average  Japanese  was  constitutionally  un- 
able to  give  a  direct  and  simple  answer  to  a  direct 
and  simple  question,  and  my  first  impression  was 
that  this  was  due  to  some  peculiarity  of  the  far- 
famed  Oriental  Mind.  But  that  impression  soon 
changed — so  much  so  that  I  am  now  disposed  to 
doubt  that  such  a  thing  as  the  Oriental  Mind  exists 
in  Japan,  if  by  that  term  is  meant  a  mental  fabric 
constitutionally  different  from  that  of  Occidental 
peoples.  That  is  to  say,  I  believe  the  average 
Japanese  child  starts  out  in  life  with  about  the  same 
intellectual  potentialities  as  the  average  American, 


58  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

English,  French  or  Italian  child,  and  that  differences 
which  develop  as  the  child  grows  older  are  not 
differences  in  mental  texture,  but  only  in  the  mental 
pattern  produced  by  environment.  My  contention 
is  not  that  Japanese  brains  are  never  imperfect  or 
peculiar,  but  that  their  imperfections  and  peculiari- 
ties are  precisely  those  found  everywhere  else  in  the 
world.  And  the  same  rule  applies,  of  course,  when 
one  compares  the  great  intellects  of  Japan  with  the 
great  intellects  of  other  nations.  At  bottom  we  are 
much  more  of  a  piece  with  the  Japanese  than  either 
they  or  we  generally  suppose.  The  differences 
between  us,  aside  from  those  of  colour,  size,  and  phy- 
siognomy, are  almost  entirely  the  result  of  our  op- 
posite training  and  customs  and  the  effect  of  these 
upon  our  respective  modes  of  thought.  Neither 
nation  has  a  corner  on  brains  nor  on  the  lack  of 
them. 

In  a  hotel  in  Kobe  a  lady  of  my  acquaintance 
ordered  orange  juice  for  breakfast.  The  Japanese 
"boy" — waiters  and  stewards  are  all  "boys "in  the 
Far  East — presently  returned  to  say  that  there  was 
no  orange  juice  to  be  had  that  morning.  But  he 
added  that  he  could  bring  oranges  if  she  so  desired. 

The  Oriental  Mind?  Not  at  all.  The  Orient 
has  no  monopoly  of  stupid  waiters.  The  same 
thing  might  have  happened  in  our  own  country  or 
another.  And  that  is  the  test  we  should  apply 
to  every  incident  which  we  are  inclined  to  attribute 
to  some  basic  mental  difference  between  the  Orientals 
and  ourselves. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  59 

Granted  the  same  background,  could  not  this  thing 
have  happened  in  an  Occidental  country? 

Never,  in  Japan,  was  I  able  to  answer  that  test 
question  with  a  final,  confident  "No." 

Sometimes,  however,  I  thought  I  was  going  to  be 
able  to. 

One  day  on  the  Ginza,  the  chief  shopping  street  of 
Tokyo,  I  saw  a  well-dressed  young  lady  strolling 
along  the  walk  with  her  long,  beautiful  hair  hanging 
down  her  back,  and  false  hair  dangling  from  her  hand. 
She  was  evidently  returning  from  the  hairdresser's 
where  she  had  been  for  a  shampoo.  The  situation, 
from  my  point  of  view,  was  precisely  as  if  I  had 
seen  a  similar  spectacle  on  Fifth  Avenue.  But 
when  I  spoke  about  it  to  Yuki,  who  besides  being  our 
maid  was  our  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend,  she 
assured  me  that  the  young  lady  was  quite  within  the 
bounds  of  custom. 

"We  Japanese  no  think  it  shame  to  have  false 
hair,"  she  said. 

Once  I  thought  I  had  the  Oriental  Mind  fairly 
cornered,  and  had  I  not  later  chanced  to  discover 
my  mistake  I  should  probably  be  thinking  so  still. 

I  was  driving  in  an  automobile  with  a  Japanese 
gentleman,  a  director  in  a  large  pharmaceutical 
company.  Parenthetically,  I  may  say  that  he  had 
been  telling  me  how,  when  his  company  bought 
three  hundred  thousand  hectares  of  land  in  Peru, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  plants  from  which  some 
of  their  products  are  manufactured,  the  anti-Japanese 
press  of  the  United  States  took  up  the  story,  falsely 


60  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

declaring  that  here  was  a  great  emigration  scheme 
backed  by  the  Japanese  Government.  But  that 
is  by  the  way. 

Presently  we  came  to  a  place  where  a  large  building 
was  being  erected.  The  framework  was  already 
standing  and  was  surrounded  by  screens  of  split 
bamboo  which  were  attached  to  the  scaffolding. 
Having  noticed  other  buildings  similarly  screened, 
I  asked  about  the  matter. 

"Ah,"  said  the  gentleman,  "the  screens  are 
to  prevent  the  people  on  the  streets  from  seeing  what 
is  going  on  inside." 

"But  what  goes  on  inside  that  they  ought  not 
to  see?"  I  asked,  mystified. 

My  informant  gazed  at  me  gravely  for  a  moment 
through  his  large  round  spectacles.  Then  he  said, 
as  it  seemed  to  me  cryptically:  "It  is  not  thought 
best  for  the  people  to  see  too  much." 

I  pondered  this  answer  for  a  moment,  then  noted  it 
down  in  my  little  book,  adding  the  memorandum: 
"The  Oriental  Mind!" 

Doubtless  I  should  now  be  making  weird  deduc- 
tions from  that  brown-eyed  gentleman's  explanation 
of  the  screens,  had  I  not  chanced  to  mention  the 
matter  to  another  Japanese  with  whom  I  was  more 
intimately  acquainted. 

"But  that  is  not  correct,"  he  said,  smiling.  "The 
screens  are  not  there  to  prevent  people  from  seeing  in, 
but  to  prevent  things  from  falling  on  their  heads  as 
they  pass  by." 

The  bamboo  screens,  in  other  words,  served  pre- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  61 

cisely  the  protective  purpose  of  the  wooden  sheds 
we  erect  over  sidewalks  before  buildings  in  process 
of  construction.  The  pharmaceutical  gentleman 
did  not  know  what  they  were  for,  just  as  we  do  not 
know  the  uses  of  a  great  many  things  we  see  daily 
on  the  streets  of  cities  in  which  we  live;  he  was 
anxious  to  be  helpful  to  me;  he  did  not  wish  to  fail 
to  answer  any  question  I  might  ask  him;  so  he 
guessed,  and  guessed  wrong.  But  as  any  reporter 
can  tell  you,  the  practice  of  passing  out  the  results 
of  guessing  in  the  guise  of  accurate  information 
is  by  no  means  exclusively  a  Japanese  practice. 
Reporters  sometimes  guess  at  things  themselves, 
but  that  is  not  what  I  mean.  I  mean  that  a  con- 
scientious reporter  now  and  then  finds  himself 
deceived  by  misinformation  coming  from  some  source 
he  had  supposed  reliable. 

In  writing  about  American  towns  and  cities  I 
have  more  than  once  been  so  deceived.  An  old 
inhabitant  of  Colorado  told  me  that  the  altitude 
of  Cripple  Creek  was  so  great  that  cats  could  not 
live  there.  Later,  however,  I  learned  that  cats  can 
perfectly  well  live  in  Cripple  Creek  despite  the  alti- 
tude. Indeed  some  cats  having  but  little  regard 
for  the  character  of  their  surroundings  do  live  there. 
It  is  only  the  more  critical  cats  who  cannot  stand 
the  place. 

Every  American  knows  that  he  could  be  asked 
questions  about  his  own  country  and  its  ways 
which  he  could  not  answer  accurately  offhand,  but 
in  a  foreign  land  he  expects  every  resident  of  that 


62  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

land  to  be  able  to  explain  anything  and  everything. 
I  wonder  if  the  Japanese  expect  as  much  of  us  when 
they  question  us. 

"Why  do  you  say  'Dear  me!'?"  I  once  heard  a 
Japanese  gentleman  inquire  of  an  American  lady. 
And  though  the  lady  explained  why  she  said  "Dear 
me!"  I  doubt  that  the  Japanese  gentleman  was 
able  to  understand.  I  know  that  I  was  not. 

Another  Japanese  who  had  been  in  New  York 
wished  to  know  why  we  called  a  building  in  which 
there  were  no  flowers  "Madison  Square  Garden," 
and  why  ladies  called  a  certain  garment,  once 
generally  worn  by  them,  a  "petticoat,"  although 
it  is  distinctly  not  a  coat,  but  a  skirt. 

My  answers  to  these  questions  were,  to  put 
it  mildly,  vague,  and  I  suppose  my  questioner  said 
to  himself  as  he  listened  to  me: 

"Ah,  the  Occidental  Mind!  How  curiously  it 
works!" 


CHAPTER    VI 

Interlocking  Ideas — Customs  and  Symbolism — Simplicity 
versus  Complexity — Flower  Arrangement — Teaism — The 
Egg-Shaped  God— The  Feudal  Era— Ceremonial  Tea- 
Household  Decoration — Keys  to  Japan — The  Seven  Blind 
Men 

WHEN  I  had  been  several  weeks  in  Japan, 
striving  continually  to  gain  some  compre- 
hension of  the  people  and  their  ways,  I 
began  to  feel  a  little  bit  discouraged.  Never  had  I 
been  so  fascinated  by  a  foreign  land.  Never  in  so 
short  a  time  had  I  seen  and  heard  so  much  that  was 
new  and  strange  and  charming.  Yet  never  had  my 
observations  been  so  fragmentary,  so  puzzling. 
My  notebooks  made  me  think  of  travelling-bags 
packed  with  unrelated  articles  of  clothing.  With 
the  stockings  belonging  to  one  theme  I  had,  as  it 
were,  packed  the  shoes  of  another.  Here  was  a  full 
dress  coat;  here  a  pair  of  overalls.  Nothing  was 
complete  and  no  two  things  seemed  to  match.  I 
could  help  to  dress  an  army  of  ideas,  but  I  wondered 
if  I  could  fully  clothe  one. 

I  kept  asking  questions,  but  frequently  the  answers 
led  me  far  afield,  and  were  incomplete  and  unsatis- 
factory. 

63 


64  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

After  a  time,  however,  I  began  to  understand 
why  a  Japanese  so  often  fails  to  give  a  simple  and 
direct  answer  to  a  simple  and  direct  question  about 
things  Japanese.  It  is  because,  in  many  instances, 
no  such  answer  is  possible.  Nor  is  this  impossibility 
due  to  any  mental  kink  in  the  Japanese  of  whom 
the  question  is  asked.  It  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
thing  asked  about  is  not  a  simple,  self-contained 
unit,  but  is  a  minute  part  of  some  great  mass  of 
thought  or  custom  which  must  be  in  a  general  way 
understood  before  any  single  detail  of  it  can  be 
understood.  It  is  as  though  you  were  to  ask  a 
question  about  a  coloured  pebble  only  to  find 
yourself  thereby  involved  with  cosmos. 

Japan  is  a  land  of  customs.  Her  customs  are 
based  on  principles  which  are  rooted  in  traditions, 
which  in  turn  frequently  rest  upon  foundations  of 
history,  religion,  superstition,  or  perhaps  a  mythology 
involving  all  three.  Thus  it  often  seems  that  every 
little  word  and  act  of  a  Japanese  can  be  accounted 
for  in  some  curious,  complex  yet  essentially  logical 
manner — that  every  thought  in  the  Japanese  mind 
has,  so  to  speak,  a  genealogy,  which,  like  the  genea- 
logy of  the  Japanese  Imperial  Family,  reaches  back 
into  the  mists  of  antiquity.  Symbolism,  moreover, 
plays  an  immense  part  in  the  daily  life  of  Japan,  and 
this  fact  enormously  complicates  matters  for  the 
foreigner  who  aspires  to  understand  the  country 
and  the  people.  These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why 
in  an  article  recently  written  for  a  magazine,  I  called 
Japan  "The  Isles  of  Complexities." 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  65 

Yet  when  I  mentioned  the  title  of  that  article 
to  an  American  friend  who  has  lived  for  many 
years  in  Japan,  he  wrote  me  that  he  considered  it 
a  misnomer. 

"I  should  caU  Japan  'The  Isles  of  Simplicities,'" 
he  declared,  "just  because  life  there  is  so  different 
from  life  in  our  own  artificial  civilization.  I  am 
speaking  particularly  of  our  false  modesty  as  com- 
pared with  the  more  natural  ideas  of  the  Japanese 
concerning  natural  functions  and  unnatural  emotions 
—or  emotions  unnaturally  excited.  If  you  will  get 
down  to  fundamentals  I  think  you  will  find  that  we 
are  the  complex  people  and  they  the  simple  people. 
Can  you,  for  instance,  project  yourself  into  the  mind 
of  a  Martian  visiting  this  earth  for  the  first  time, 
taking  a  trip  through  the  dance-halls,  cabarets,  and 
midnight  frolics  of  New  York  and  Chicago,  then 
going  to  Japan  and  seeing  the  class  of  entertainment 
there  provided  for  natives  and  foreigners  alike? 
Let  such  an  unprejudiced  outsider  watch  the  street 
scenes  of  Japan,  note  the  frank  customs  of  the  people, 
including  those  revealed  in  the  community  baths, 
and  I  think  he  would  say  the  Japanese  are  essentially 
simple  as  compared  with  us,  that  they  are  purer 
in  thought  and  action,  and  (though  I  know  I  am 
inviting  contradiction)  that  they  have  on  the  average 
a  higher  sense  of  real  morality." 

My  friend  makes  out  a  good  case  and  I  agree 
with  much  that  he  says,  but  he  is  thinking  along  one 
line  while  I  am  thinking  along  another.  He  is 
thinking  of  the  outward  simplicities  of  Japanese 


66  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

life,  while  I  am  thinking  of  its  inward  complexities, 
especially  with  regard  to  the  relation  of  one  fact  to 
another — I  might  almost  say  of  every  fact  to  every 
other  fact. 

Let  me  illustrate: 

That  grouping  of  flowers  in  a  bamboo  vase,  which 
you  find  so  satisfying,  is  not  the  result  of  any  fancy 
of  the  moment,  but  is  the  product  of  an  elaborate 
art,  dating  back  at  least  five  centuries.  Flower 
Arrangement  is  a  part  of  the  curriculum  of  girls' 
schools  and  is  one  of  the  accomplishments  of  every 
lady.  Hundreds  of  books  have  been  written  on 
the  art  and  there  are  thousands  of  professional 
teachers  of  it.  It  has,  you  are  informed,  a  philos- 
ophy of  its  own.  Confucianism  is  invoked.  The 
Universe  is  represented  by  three  sprays  of  different 
height — an  effect  often  found  also  in  plantings  in 
Japanese  gardens.  The  tallest  spray,  standing  in 
the  middle,  symbolizes  Heaven;  the  shortest,  Earth; 
the  intermediate,  Man.  There  may  be  five,  seven 
or  nine  sprays,  but  the  principle  of  Heaven,  Earth 
and  Man  must  be  preserved.  There  must  never  be 
an  even  number  of  sprays,  and  four  is  a  number  to 
be  avoided  above  all  others,  since  shi,  the  Japanese 
word  for  "four",  also  means  "death." 

Significance  likewise  attaches  to  the  species 
of  blooms  and  branches  used.  The  plum  blossom, 
which  is  sent  to  brides,  symbolizes  purity,  and  also, 
because  it  flowers  when  snow  is  on  the  ground,  stands 
for  courage  in  adversity. 

But  just  when  you  begin  to  flatter  yourself  that 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  67 

you  have  acquired  some  understanding  of  Flower 
Arrangement  you  meet  some  one  who  does  not  follow 
the  tenets  of  the  particular  school  of  Flower  Arrange- 
ment you  have  heard  about — which,  let  us  say,  is 
the  popular  Ikenobo  school — but  believes  in  the 
teachings  of  the  Enshiu  school,  the  Koriu  school, 
or  the  Nageire — "thrown  in" — school.  Or  perhaps 
he  favours  the  kindred  art  called  Morimono — 
"things-piled-up" — which  deals  with  compositions 
of  fruit  and  vegetables;  or  the  Morihana  school, 
which  applies  the  "things-piled-up"  principle  to 
flowers;  or  that  other  kindred  art  which  teaches  the 
making  of  "tray  landscapes" — pictures  drawn  on  the 
flat  surface  of  a  tray  in  pebbles  and  various  kinds  of 
sand. 

The  essential  point  in  all  Flower  Arrangement  is 
that  there  shall  be  form  and  balance,  yet  that  the 
composition  shall  not  be  perfectly  symmetrical, 
as  perfect  symmetry  is  not  found  in  nature.  In 
order  to  attain  the  desired  effects  the  flower-stalks 
and  branches  used  are  carefully  bent  and  twisted, 
and  this  work  is  done  with  such  delicacy  and  dex- 
terity as  to  conceal  the  fact  that  their  forms  have 
been  altered  by  artificial  means.  I  have  seen  a 
Flower  Master  make  waterlilies  stand  upright  on 
their  stalks  by  forcing  water  up  through  the  stalks 
with  a  syringe.  He  then  set  them  on  one  of  those 
flat  metal  flower-holders  we  have  lately  been  learning 
to  use  in  this  country,  so  arranging  them  in  a  shallow 
bowl  that  there  was  an  open  space  between  the  stems, 
which  he  said  was  "for  the  fish  to  swim  through" — 


68  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

though  the  fish  was  in  this  case  purely  a  creature  of 
his  imagination. 

Many  methods  of  making  flowers  draw  water 
are  also  taught.  Especially  in  the  case  of  chrysan- 
themums, the  ends  of  the  stalks  are  burned;  the  end 
of  a  hardwood  branch  is  often  crushed  so  that  it 
admits  water  more  freely;  certain  flowers  are  put 
in  hot  water;  others  are  dipped  in  a  solution  of 
strong  tea  and  pepper. 

The  origin  of  Flower  Arrangement  is  traced 
by  Okakura  to  a  tune  when  ancient  Buddhist  saints 
"gathered  the  flowers  strewn  by  the  storm  and,  in 
their  infinite  solicitude  for  all  living  things,  placed 
them  in  vessels  of  water."  We  are  told  that  Soami, 
a  painter  of  the  Ashikaga  period,  was  an  adept, 
and  that  Juko  the  Tea  Master  was  his  pupil.  Flower 
Arrangement  thus  became  a  recognized  art  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  albeit  not  an  independent 
art,  since  it  was  at  first  a  branch  of  Teaism. 

Teaism?  They  tell  you  you  cannot  understand 
Flower  Arrangement  unless  you  also  understand 
Teaism.  What  is  Teaism? 

Here  is  unfolded  to  you  a  further  range  for  study. 
You  knew,  of  course,  that  the  first  thing  which 
happens  when  you  pay  a  call  in  Japan,  be  it  a 
business  or  social  call,  is  the  arrival  of  a  cup  of  clear 
Japan  tea,  and  that  the  second  and  third  things 
which  happen  are  the  arrival  of  the  second  and  third 
cups.  You  knew  that  the  tea  of  Japan  is  green 
tea,  and  that  it  is  taken  without  cream  or  sugar 
from  cups  having  no  handles.  You  knew,  perhaps, 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  69 

that  such  tea  is  made  with  hot — not  boiling — water. 
But  were  you  aware  that  tea  is  in  its  highest  sense 
not  a  beverage,  but  a  creed,  a  ritual,  a  philosophy? 

The  discovery  of  the  brew  is  said  to  have  been 
made  by  the  Chinese  Emperor  Chinnung,  in  the 
year  2737  B.C.,  but  the  mythology  of  Buddhism 
traces  the  creation  of  the  tea-bush  itself  to  the  divert- 
ing god  Daruma— that  amusing  egg-shaped  fellow 
often  represented  in  a  child's  toy  which,  when  pushed 
over,  persists  in  rolling  back  to  an  upright  position, 
thereby  symbolizing  unflagging  aspiration.  "Down 
seven  times — up  eight  times,"  the  Japanese  say  of 
Daruma. 

Having  meditated  day  and  night  for  weeks, 
Daruma  fell  asleep.  On  awakening  he  was  so 
vexed  with  his  drowsy  eyelids  that  he  cut  them 
off  and  flung  them  to  the  ground,  where  they  sprouted 
into  plants  from  the  leaves  of  which  a  sleep-destroying 
beverage  might  be  made. 

The  seeds  of  the  tea-plant  were  brought  to  Japan 
from  China  in  the  year  805  A.D.,  but  the  initiation 
of  the  habit  of  tea-drinking  is  generally  dated  from 
the  time,  about  four  centuries  later,  when  the  priest 
Eisai,  of  the  Zen  sect  of  Buddhists — a  favourite 
sect  among  artists  and  tea-drinkers  to  this  day- 
wrote  a  treatise  on  "The  Salutary  Influence  of 
Tea-Drinking,"  which  he  presented,  along  with  a 
cup  of  tea,  to  one  of  the  early  shoguns,  who  was  ill. 
Thus  tea  was  first  taken  as  a  medicine  "to  regulate 
the  five  viscera  and  expel  evil  spirits." 

Not  long  after  this  we  find  the  drinking  of  tea 


70  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

becoming  a  pastime  of  the  nobility,  and  by  degrees 
we  see  the  development  of  aesthetic  practices  in 
connection  with  it.  Art  objects  were  displayed 
when  people  met  for  tea;  sumptuous  tea-parties 
were  given  by  daimyos,  and  one  writer  tells  us  that 
there  came  a  period  of  decadence  in  the  Feudal  Era 
when  warriors  would  lay  down  the  sword  in  favour 
of  the  teapot,  and  die  cup  in  hand  when  their  castles 
were  taken  by  their  enemies. 

Let  me  digress  here  to  speak  briefly  of  the  Feudal 
Era,  the  most  interesting  era  of  Japanese  history. 
It  lasted  from  the  twelfth  to  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century — that  is,  throughout  the  period 
during  which  Japan  was  ruled  not  by  its  Emperors, 
but  by  several  successive  families  of  shoguns,  or  as 
for  reasons  given  later  they  were  sometimes  called, 
tycoons.  Though  the  shoguns  usurped  Imperial 
power  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  they  did  not  usurp 
the  throne  itself  nor  attempt  to  destroy  the  Imperial 
family,  but  were  content  to  keep  the  successive 
emperors  in  a  state  of  impotence.  Under  the 
shoguns  were  the  daimyos,  powerful  feudal  lords 
acting  in  effect  as  provincial  governors;  and  each 
daimyo  had  his  samurai,  or  fighting  men,  holding 
rank  in  several  grades.  There  was  also  a  class  of 
samurai  known  as  ronin  who  acknowledged  no 
lord  as  their  master,  but  were  independent  fighters 
and  trouble-makers.  I  give  this  outline  because 
these  various  terms  confused  me  at  first.  There 
was  but  one  shogun]at  a  time;  the  daimyos  numbered 


or  is  the  potency  of  Ceremonial  Tea  diminished  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  served  by  a  lovely  little  Japanese  hand  (Above) 
hile  Yuki's  fortune  was  being  told  I  photographed  her  (Below) 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  71 

between  two  and  three  hundred,  and  it  has  been 
estimated  that  there  were  some  two  million  samurai. 
With  a  very  few  exceptions — among  them  rich 
farmers  and  swordmakers — no  one  below  the  rank 
of  samurai  could  wear  a  sword.  The  sword-wearing 
class  was  the  ruling  class,  and  ordinary  workers 
were  regarded  as  of  little  consequence.  A  samurai 
could  strike  down  with  his  sword  any  plebeian 
who  jostled  him  by  accident,  or  who  as  much  as 
looked  at  him  in  a  manner  which  he  found  distasteful. 
The  rank  of  samurai  corresponded  with  that 
of  knights  in  feudal  Europe,  and  Japanese  families 
who  are  descended  from  samurai  are  proud  of  the 
fact,  precisely  as  some  European  families,  and  indeed 
some  American  families,  are  proud  of  having  sprung 
from  knightly  forbears. 

But  to  return  to  our  tea.  A  Zen  priest  named 
Shuko  is  said  to  have  originated  the  idea  of  associat- 
ing with  the  habit  of  tea-drinking  the  cultivation 
of  "the  four  virtues" — urbanity,  purity,  courtesy, 
and  imperturbability — and  this  conception,  originat- 
ing about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is  to 
this  day  a  tradition  of  the  Tea  Ceremony,  or  cha- 
no-yu. 

The  great  soldiers  Nobunaga  and  Hideyoshi, 
chief  figures  of  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, were  addicts  of  the  Tea  Ceremony.  It  was 
Hideyoshi  who  caused  the  Tea  Master,  Sen-no- 
Rikyu,  to  consider  the  various  schools  of  Ceremonial 
Tea  which  had  developed,  and  codify  them. 


72  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

The  keynote  of  the  ceremony  prescribed  by 
Sen-no-Rikyu  was  "simplicity"  of  a  most  elaborate 
kind.  There  must  be  a  special  teahouse  in  the 
garden — though  in  recent  times  a  special  tearoom 
in  the  house  is  considered  adequate.  The  teahouse 
was  required  to  be  small.  Its  exact  dimensions 
were  given,  down  even  to  the  height  of  the  doorway, 
which  was  so  low  as  to  compel  guests  to  enter  with 
bowed  heads.  The  house  must  be  simple  in  the 
extreme,  yet  built  of  the  choicest  woods.  The 
character  of  the  tea  equipment  was  specified,  as  was 
the  nature  of  the  decorations. 

This  was  where  Flower  Arrangement  originally 
came  in.  A  kakemono — one  of  those  Oriental 
paintings  mounted  on  a  vertical  panel  of  silk  ar- 
ranged to  roll  up  on  a  cylindrical  piece  of  wood 
and  ivory  attached  to  its  lower  margin — must  hang 
in  the  shallow  alcove  which  is  the  place  of  honour 
in  every  Japanese  room;  and  beneath  the  kakemono 
must  be  displayed  an  object  of  art  or  an  arrange- 
ment of  flowers  having  a  certain  relationship  to  the 
painting. 

For  example,  if  the  painting  be  that  of  a  lion 
the  suitable  flower  to  be  displayed  beneath  it  is  the 
peony,  because  the  lion  is  the  king  of  beasts  and  the 
peony  the  king  of  flowers.  This  is  merely  one 
simple  instance  of  an  artistic  association  of  ideas, 
infinite  in  number  and  sometimes  complicated 
in  character.  Yet  these  decorative  affinities  are 
understood  not  only  by  the  highly  educated  Japanese, 
but  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  people — for  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  73 

feeling  for  art  is,  I  believe,  distributed  more  widely 
amongst  the  people  of  Japan  than  amongst  those  of 
any  other  nation.  The  Japanese  do  not  jam  their 
homes  with  furniture  and  decorations  as  we  so 
often  do,  but  exhibit  their  art  treasures  a  few  at  a 
time,  keeping  most  of  them  put  away.  It  is  said 
that  Japanese  rooms  look  bare  to  the  average 
foreigner.  To  me,  however,  their  rooms  do  not 
look  bare,  but  have  an  air  of  exquisite  refinement 
seldom  found  in  an  American  or  English  room. 

Some  Americans  who  have  learned  to  appreciate 
the  Japanese  idea  of  decoration,  and  who  imitate 
it  superficially,  nevertheless  achieve  assemblages 
of  art  objects  which,  because  of  the  lack  of  relation- 
ship between  them,  offend  the  trained  Japanese 
eye  precisely  as  a  discord  offends  a  trained  musical 
ear.  As  Chamberlain  points  out,  the  Japanese 
have  few  mere  "patterns."  They  don't  make 
"fancy  figures"  merely  for  the  sake  of  covering 
up  a  surface.  Their  decoration  means  something — 
as  indeed  decoration  has  in  its  highest  periods  in  all 
countries. 

There  have  been  many  Tea  Masters  since  Sen- 
no-Rikyu,  and  the  names  of  not  a  few  of  them  are 
remembered  to  this  day  with  veneration.  The 
chief  treasure  of  a  friend  of  mine  in  Tokyo  is  a  little 
teahouse,  standing  in  his  garden,  which  belonged 
some  three  hundred  years  ago  to  Kobori-Enshiu,  Tea 
Master  to  the  third  Tokugawa  shogun.  If  you 
would  know  how  such  associations  are  valued  in 
Japan,  go  to  an  auction  when  some  piece  of  Cere- 


74  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

monial  Tea   equipment,   once   the  property   of  a 
famous  Tea  Master,  is  coming  up  for  sale. 

Ceremonial  Tea  has  practically  nothing  to  do 
with  ordinary  tea-drinking.  The  very  tea  used 
for  the  purpose  is  not  like  other  tea.  It  comes 
in  the  form  of  fine  green  powder  which  is  placed 
in  a  special  sort  of  bowl  in  a  special  sort  of  way, 
whereafter  water  of  exactly  the  right  temperature 
and  quantity  is  added,  and  the  mixture  is  whipped 
to  a  creamy  froth  with  a  tiny  bamboo  brush,  manip- 
ulated in  a  special  manner.  Great  stress  is  laid 
upon  the  frame  of  mind  brought  into  the  tearoom, 
as  well  as  on  the  etiquette  and  technique  governing 
every  detail  connected  with  the  making  and  drinking 
of  the  tea.  The  bowl  is  passed  and  received  accord- 
ing to  exact  rules,  and  there  is  profound  bowing 
back  and  forth.  First  it  circulates  as  a  loving-cup 
amongst  the  guests;  later  a  special  bowl  is  served 
to  each  in  turn.  On  accepting  the  bowl  the  guest 
revolves  it  gently  in  both  hands;  then  with  as 
much  of  the  calm  dignity  of  a  Zen  Buddhist  as  he 
is  able  to  exhibit,  he  raises  it  and  takes  a  large  sip. 
Removing  the  bowl  from  his  lips  he  pauses  medita- 
tively; then  repeats  the  process.  Etiquette  de- 
mands that  when  three  large  sips  have  been  taken 
there  shall  remain  in  the  bowl  enough  tea  to  make  a 
small  sip.  In  disposing  of  this  final  draught  great 
gusto  must  be  shown.  The  head  is  thrown  back 
in  indication  of  eagerness  to  drain  the  last  drop, 
and  the  tea  is  drawn  into  the  mouth  with  a  sucking 
sound  which  advertises  the  delight  of  the  drinker. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  75 

The  second  night  afterward  he  may  be  able  to 
sleep.  Ceremonial  Tea  is  potent.  Nor  is  its  potency 
diminished  by  the  fact  that  the  hand  which  makes 
and  serves  it  is  a  characteristically  exquisite  little 
Japanese  hand,  set  off  by  the  long  soft  sleeve  of  a 
flowered  silk  kimono. 

Obviously  you  cannot  understand  Japan  without 
understanding  the  Japanese  woman — the  nation's 
crowning  glory.  But  as  Lafcadio  Hearn  tells  you, 
she  is  not  to  be  understood  without  an  understanding 
of  the  organization  of  Japanese  society,  which  in  turn, 
is  not  to  be  understood  without  a  comprehension  of 
Shintoism,  the  State  religion. 

Everyone  has  a  prescription  for  understanding 
Japan.  One  friend  told  me  I  could  never  understand 
it  until  I  had  grasped  the  attitude  of  the  people 
toward  the  Imperial  House.  But  that  is  only  an- 
other way  of  saying  that  Shintoism  must  be  under- 
stood. Many,  naturally,  speak  of  Buddhism.  Others 
mention  the  feudal  system,  with  its  clan  loyalty, 
as  the  touchstone,  and  still  others  assured  me  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  Tea  Ceremony  and  the  No  drama 
were  essential. 

"Fujiyama  is  the  key-note  of  Japan,"  wrote 
Kipling.  "When  you  understand  the  one  you  are 
in  position  to  learn  something  about  the  other." 
Sir  Charles  Eliot,  long  before  he  became  British 
Ambassador  at  Tokyo,  wrote  that  it  is  hopeless 
to  attempt  to  understand  Japan  without  first 
recognizing  "the  peculiar  spirituality  of  the  Japan- 


76  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

ese";  but  there  are  not  wanting  others  to  deny  the 
existence  of  any  such  spirituality  as  Sir  Charles 
describes,  and  who,  instead,  harp  upon  the  alleged 
Prussianism  of  Japan  as  explaining  everything. 

Doctor  Nitobe,  the  gifted  Japanese  author, 
who,  like  Okakura,  writes  delightfully  in  English, 
gives  us  as  the  key  to  Japan  the  doctrine  of  bushido, 
or  "military  knight  ways";  but  again  there  are 
students  of  Japan  who  affirm  that  the  system  of 
practical  ethics  attributed  by  the  doctor's  patriotic 
pen  to  the  samurai  of  old,  would  astound  those 
doughty  warriors  could  they  hear  of  it.  The  book 
"Bushido,"  declare  these  critics,  is  less  a  key  to 
Japan  than  to  Doctor  Nitobe. 

Is  not  the  interdependence  of  facts,  of  which  I 
spoke  earlier,  illustrated  in  the  trend  of  this  chapter, 
all  of  which,  remember,  grew  out  of  a  discussion  of 
a  bunch  of  flowers  in  a  bamboo  vase?  Do  you  see 
why  I  called  Japan  "The  Isles  of  Complexities"? 
And  do  you  see  that  I  might  also  call  it  "The  Isles 
of  Contradictions"? 

Perhaps  you  will  not  be  surprised,  then,  at  my 
confession  that  after  having  spent  several  weeks  in 
Japan  I  found  myself  fascinated  but  also  puzzled. 
Why,  I  asked  myself,  had  I  so  gaily  set  forth  under 
an  agreement  to  write  about  Japan?  Why  hadn't 
I  made  it  a  mere  pleasure  trip?  For  it  is  one  thing 
to  see  and  be  satisfied  with  seeing,  and  quite  another 
to  attempt  interpretation. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  if  a  man  stays  in 
Japan  six  or  eight  weeks  he  can  write  a  book  about 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  77 

it;  that  if  he  stays  a  year  or  two  he  may  write  a 
single  article  for  a  magazine;  but  that  if  he  stays 
several  years  he  will  be  afraid  to  write  at  all. 

"To  get  the  Japanese  background,"  one  friend 
told  me,  "you  ought  to  have  a  month  or  two  in 
Korea,  and  at  least  a  year  in  China.  Then  you 
should  come  back  and  rent  a  house  and  Live  in 
Japanese  fashion  for  a  while." 

"Say  about  two  hundred  years?"  I  suggested. 

My  friend  smiled. 

"One  hundred  and  fifty  years  might  do,"  he 
said,  "if  you  made  every  minute  count." 

Then,  perhaps  because  he  read  in  my  face  the 
signs  of  my  discouragement,  he  reminded  me  of  an 
old  fable: 

Seven  blind  men  went  to  "see"  an  elephant. 
One  of  them,  bumping  into  the  great  beast's  side, 
said,  "Here  is  a  creature  resembling  a  wall."  Another, 
feeling  the  trunk,  likened  the  elephant  to  a  serpent; 
another,  touching  a  tusk,  announced  that  the  animal 
resembled  a  spear;  and  still  another,  grasping  an 
ear,  compared  the  elephant  to  a  large  leaf.  The  one 
who  got  hold  of  the  tail  likened  it  to  a  rope,  while 
he  who  embraced  a  leg  thought  of  a  tree,  and  he  who 
crawled  over  the  back  declared  that  an  elephant 
resembled  a  hill. 

There  in  a  paragraph  you  have  Japan  and  her 
interpreters. 


PART    II 


CHAPTER    VII  4 

The  Lyric  Impulse — A  Man-Made  Product — The  Remote- 
ness of  Woman  Suffrage — Efforts  Toward  Progress — 
Divorce — Marriage  and  the  Go-Between — The  Rising  Gen- 
eration— Japanese-American  Duality — Leprosy 

E^CADIO  HEARN  tells  us  that  training  in 
the  Tea  Ceremony  "is  held  to  be  a  training 
in  politeness,  in  self-control,  in  delicacy — a 
discipline  in  deportment";  but  Jakichi  Inouye,  a 
searching  and  sincere  Japanese  writer,  goes  even  fur- 
ther, declaring  that  "the  calm,  sedate  gracefulness  of 
the  Japanese  lady  of  culture  is  the  result  of  the  study 
of  the  Tea  Ceremony.  .  .  ." 

My  one  quarrel  with  Mr.  Inouye  is  over  that 
statement.  To  say  that  the  study  of  the  Tea 
Ceremony  assists  young  ladies  to  attain  poise  is 
safe  enough;  but  to  say  that  the  fine  bearing  of  the 
Japanese  lady  is  the  result  of  studying  the  Tea 
Ceremony  seems  to  me  to  be  going  altogether  too  far. 

The  bearing  of  the  Japanese  lady  is  a  thing  too 
exquisite  to  have  been  produced  by  the  practice 
of  any  artificial  social  ritual.  Such  a  bearing  is  not, 
in  my  opinion,  to  be  classed  as  a  mere  accomplish- 
ment, though  it  may  have  been  so  a  thousand  years 
ago.  Rather  it  is  the  reflection  of  an  incomparably 
lovely  spirit,  the  flower  of  countless  generations  of 

81 


82  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

such  spirits,  reaching  back  through  ages  of  tradition, 
centuries  of  self-abnegation.  It  is  the  crowning  pro- 
duct and  proof,  not  of  any  Tea  Ceremony,  but  of  the 
disciplined  civilization  of  Old  Japan. 
v  Whenever  I  find  my  thoughts  reverting  to  the 
'Japanese  woman,  I  feel  stirring  within  me  a  ten- 
dency to  lyricism.  Let  Lafcadio  Hearn,  whose 
wife  was  a  Japanese  lady,  speak  for  me.  "Before 
this  ethical  creation,"  he  writes,  "criticism  should 
hold  its  breath;  for  there  is  here  no  single  fault 
save  the  fault  of  a  moral  charm  unsuited  to  any 
world  of  selfishness  and  struggle.  .  .  .  Perhaps 
no  such  type  of  woman  will  appear  again  in  this 
world  for  a  hundred  thousand  years:  the  conditions 
of  industrial  civilization  will  not  admit  of  her  ex- 
istence." 

The  fact  that  the  Japanese  woman  is  in  no  small 
degree  a  man-made  product  does  not  fill  me  with 
admiration  for  Japanese  men,  as  would  some  in- 
sentient product  of  their  art.  For  whereas  the 
artist  has  a  right  to  carve  what  he  will  in  wood  or 
ivory  or  lacquer,  to  mould  what  he  will  in  wax  or 
clay  or  bronze,  I  doubt  his  moral  right  to  use  the 
human  soul  as  a  medium  for  his  craftsmanship 
in  making  an  ornament  for  his  own  home,  however 
exquisite  that  ornament  may  be. 

I  am  well  aware  that  in  this  case  the  end  may  be 
said  to  justify  the  means,  but  I  am  enough  of  an  in- 
dividualist to  believe  in  our  American  system,  even 
though  I  must  admit  that  it  has  not  produced  so 
sweet  and  delicate  an  average  of  womanhood  as 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  83 

has  the  Japanese  system.  Women  as  we  produce 
them  exhibit  a  much  wider  range  of  types  than  may 
be  found  in  Japan,  and  though  a  vulgar  American 
woman,  be  she  rich  or  poor,  attains  a  degree  of 
vulgarity  such  as  is  not  even  faintly  approximated 
in  Japan,  we  also  know  that  we  produce  types  of 
women  as  fine  as  the  world  can  show.  And  while  I 
cannot  speak  with  absolute  certainty  of  the  in- 
tellectual attainments  of  Japanese  women,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  our  more  liberal  attitude 
toward  the  sex,  the  greater  freedom  of  companion- 
ship between  American  women  and  men,  and  the 
growth  of  the  American  woman's  interest  and  share 
in  public  matters  may  tend  to  make  her,  at  her  best, 
a  more  completely  satisfying  comrade — not  because 
her  brains  are  necessarily  better  brains  than  those 
of  the  women  of  Japan,  or  of  other  countries,  but 
because  she  has  been  encouraged  to  exercise  them 
in  a  larger  way. 

From  my  point  of  view,  however,  the  basic 
question  here  is  not  the  question  of  which  system 
produces  the  highest  specimens  of  womanhood, 
but  that  of  the  inherent  right  of  the  individual  to 
develop,  let  the  results  be  what  they  may. 

The  Japanese  woman  is  not  allowed  this  freedom, 
since  it  is  obviously  to  the  interest  of  the  Japanese 
man  to  keep  her  as  she  is.  Lately  there  has  been 
some  agitation  in  Japan  for  what  is  called  "universal 
suffrage,"  but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  by  that 
term  woman  suffrage  is  meant.  The  proposal 
involves  only  the  extension  of  the  ballot  to  all  males, 


84  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

as  against  the  present  system  which  requires  that  a 
man  shall  pay  taxes  above  a  certain  amount  in  order 
to  have  a  vote.  Woman  suffrage  is  not  even  in 
sight.  When  I  was  in  Japan  a  few  progressive  wo- 
men were  asking,  not  for  the  vote,  but  for  the  abro- 
gation of  the  rule  which  denied  their  sex  the  right 
to  attend  political  meetings.  They  were  successful. 
The  rule  was  recently  abrogated.  A  movement  had 
also  been  started  by  some  advanced  women  led 
by  Mrs.  Raicho  Hiratsuka,  for  laws  compelling 
men  who  wish  to  marry  to  obtain  medical  certifi- 
cates declaring  them  mentally  sound  and  free  from 
diseases  of  a  kind  likely  to  be  communicated  to  a 
wife.  I  heard  that  seventy  out  of  three  hundred 
girls  employed  by  the  railway  administration  in 
Kyoto  had  organized  an  association  to  aid  in  the 
advancement  of  the  measures  proposed,  vowing 
never  to  marry  unless  their  would-be  husbands 
complied  with  the  requirements  for  which  Mrs. 
Raicho  Hiratsuka  and  her  associates  were  endeavour- 
ing to  obtain  legal  recognition. 

Another  matter  that  wants  mending  is  the  legal 
status  of  married  women.  So  far  as  I  know  there 
has  been  made  no  serious  effort  to  improve  the  present 
situation.  Under  Japanese  law  a  woman,  upon  con- 
tracting marriage,  is  debarred  from  civil  rights,  having 
practically  the  standing  of  a  minor.  A  wife  cannot 
transfer  her  own  real  estate,  bring  an  action  at  law, 
or  even  accept  or  reject  a  legacy  or  a  gift,  without 
the  consent  of  her  husband.  Laws  not  dissimilar  to 
these  exist,  I  believe,  in  some  of  the  more  backward 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  85 

states  of  our  own  Union.  According  to  the  law  of 
Japan  a  widow  cannot  succeed  her  husband  as  head 
of  the  family  if  she  has  a  child  who  can  take  the  suc- 
cession. In  matters  of  inheritance  an  elder  sister 
gives  place  to  a  younger  son,  even  to  an  illegitimate 
son  recognized  by  the  father. 

A  husband  may  divorce  a  wife  for  adultery,  but 
a  wife  cannot  divorce  a  husband  for  this  cause — 
or  rather,  she  can  do  so  only  when  he  has  offended 
with  a  married  woman  whose  husband  has  therefore 
brought  action  for  divorce.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  a  husband  may  even  take  a  concubine  to  live 
in  his  home,  along  with  his  wife  and  children,  without 
giving  ground  for  divorce.  Concubinage,  I  am 
told,  is  still  to  some  extent  practised  in  Japan, 
though  popular  opinion  is  against  it.  In  one  respect, 
however,  the  Japanese  divorce  laws  are  more  en- 
lightened than  our  own.  A  husband  and  a  wife  who 
agree  in  desiring  a  divorce  may  easily  obtain  it  by 
stating  the  fact  to  the  court. 

Somehow  or  other  I  came  to  the  subject  of  divorce 
before  that  of  marriage.  The  Orient  and  the  Occi- 
dent are  nowhere  farther  apart  than  in  their  views 
and  customs  as  to  the  mating  of  men  and  women. 
In  Japan  marriages  for  love  rarely  occur,  though  it  is 
said  that  the  tendency  of  young  people  to  marry 
to  suit  themselves  is  growing.  Young  Japanese 
girls,  I  am  told,  often  look  with  envy  upon  women 
of  other  nations,  where  marriage  for  love  is  the  gen- 
eral rule.  Probably  they  suppose  that  such  matches 
are  invariably  happy ;  that  the  love  is  always  real  love, 


86  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  that  it  endures  for  ever.  No  doubt  our  system, 
viewed  from  afar,  looks  as  rosy  to  a  Japanese  girl 
as  their  system  looks  appalling  to  an  American  girl. 
Yet  each  has  certain  merits.  The  Japanese  system 
does  not  suggest  romance,  it  is  true;  but  is  romance, 
after  all,  the  most  essential  stone  in  the  foundation 
for  a  happy  married  life?  Romantic  notions  figure 
too  largely  in  some  of  our  matches,  and  too  little 
in  some  of  theirs.  And  while  the  mature  judgment 
of  older  people  is  with  them  the  determining  factor 
in  the  making  of  a  match,  it  is  too  often  with  us 
no  factor  at  all. 

Marriages  in  Japan  are  generally  brought  about 
by  older  married  couples  who  act  as  go-betweens. 
There  is  a  popular  saying  that  everyone  should  act 
as  a  go-between  at  least  three  times.  The  go- 
between,  knowing  a  young  man  and  a  young  woman 
whom  he  regards  as  suitable  to  each  other,  proposes 
the  match  confidentially  to  the  parents  of  both. 
If  preliminary  reports  are  mutally  satisfactory  to 
the  two  families,  a  meeting  of  the  young  couple  and 
their  parents  and  relatives  is  arranged  on  neutral 
ground.  Any  intimation  of  the  real  purpose  of  this 
meeting  is  tactfully  avoided  at  the  time,  though  the 
purpose  of  it  is,  of  course,  fully  understood  by  all 
concerned.  Under  this  arrangement  either  family 
may,  without  giving  offence,  drop  the  matter  after 
the  first  meeting,  but  if  the  results  of  the  preliminary 
inspection  are  satisfactory  to  both  sides,  the  parents 
meet  again  and  definitely  arrange  the  match,  which 
is  made  binding  by  an  exchange  of  presents. 


You  cannot  understand  Japan  without  understanding  the 
Japanese  woman,  who  is  the  nation's  crowning  glory 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  87 

Chamberlain  says  that  while,  in  theory,  the  be- 
throthal  may  not  be  concluded  if  either  young  person 
objects,  in  practice  the  two  are  in  the  hands  of  their 
parents,  and  that  "the  girl,  in  particular,  is  nobody 
in  the  matter." 

This  generalization  was  doubtless  accurate  a 
few  years  ago,  and  may  be  accurate  to-day  in  remote 
parts  of  Japan  where  Western  ideas  have  not  crept 
in,  but  among  the  educated  classes  in  large  cities 
a  distinct  change  has  come  over  the  rising  generation. 
There  is  as  great  a  gap  between  the  older  and  the 
younger  generations  in  Japan  as  in  the  United  States, 
and  as  with  us,  the  older  people  over  there  complain 
that  youth  is  getting  altogether  out  of  hand,  while 
youth  complains  that  its  aspirations  are  not  under- 
stood by  parents  and  grandparents.  This  does  not 
mean  that  Japanese  young  men  and  young  women 
run  practically  wild,  as  so  many  of  our  young  people 
now  are  doing,  but  merely  that  the  slight  personal 
freedom  they  are  demanding  represents  in  Japan  as 
great  a  novelty  as  is  exhibited  in  the  United  States 
by  the  change  from  moderate  parental  control  to  no 
control  at  all. 

Yet  the  cults  and  traditions  of  Old  Japan  are 
vastly  powerful,  and  though  they  may  yield  a 
little  here  and  there,  they  will  not  soon  be  broken 
down.  This  fact  is  made  apparent  in  the  quick 
reversion  to  type  of  Japanese  men  and  women 
who  have  lived  for  years  in  the  United  States,  and 
who,  when  in  the  United  States,  seem  to  have 
become  quite  like  Americans.  Meet  them  in 


88  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Japan  and  you  see  that  their  Occidentalism  was 
only  skin-deep.  While  among  us  they  gracefully 
adapted  themselves  to  our  ways,  and  doubtless 
enjoyed  them,  but  always  in  the  back  of  their  minds 
was  the  knowledge  that  they  were  Japanese  and 
that  they  would  ultimately  return  to  Japan,  there 
to  become  a  part  of  the  finely  adjusted  mechanism 
of  Japanese  homogeneity.  I  know  many  such 
men  and  women  and  find  them  very  interesting. 
They  have  passed  through  an  extraordinary  mental 
and  spiritual  experience,  generally  without  being  con- 
fused by  it.  Instead  of  mixing  their  Japanese  and 
American  selves,  they  acquire  a  perfect  duality. 
They  can  sit  on  either  side  of  the  fence,  as  it  were, 
and  look  over  calmly  and  interpretatively  at  the 
other  side. 

I  discussed  this  subject  with  one  young  matron 
who  spent  the  first  twenty  years  of  her  life  in  the 
United  States,  and  who,  when  she  moved  to  Japan, 
spoke  her  native  tongue  with  an  American  accent. 

"My  brothers  and  sisters  and  I  went  to  American 
boarding  schools,"  she  said.  "We  dressed  like 
Americans,  had  American  boy  and  girl  friends,  went 
to  house-parties,  and  grew  up  outwardly,  just  as 
they  were  growing  up.  But  always  we  were  taught 
by  our  parents  to  understand  that  this  was  not  to  go 
on  for  ever. 

"When  I  came  to  Japan  and  married  I  saw  that 
the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  show  people  that  I 
was  as  Japanese  as  any  of  them.  If  I  had  kept  up 
my  foreign  ways  it  would  have  been  resented.  So  I 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  89 

became  completely  Japanese,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  did  not  even  meet  Americans  who  came  here. 
Then  when  I  had  made  clear  my  attitude  and  felt 
I  was  established,  I  began  to  see  Americans  again 
and  entertain  them." 

In  another  case  a  young  Japanese  in  an  American 
university  used  to  tell  his  college  friends  that  when 
he  went  back  to  Japan  he  would  show  his  emancipa- 
tion from  old  Japanese  tradition  by  marrying  as  he 
pleased.  Soon  after  reaching  home,  however,  he  was 
married  by  his  parents  to  a  bride  he  hardly  knew. 
He  speaks  fluent  English,  I  am  told,  and  has  an 
American  side  which  he  can  show  at  will,  but  the 
inner  man  is  essentially  as  Japanese  as  though 
he  had  never  been  away.  And  rightly  so,  of  course. 
The  Japanese  who  throws  himself  as  an  impediment 
against  the  movement  of  the  great  machine  of 
national  conventions  is  not  likely  to  break  so  much 
as  a  single  tooth  in  the  smallest  of  its  wheels,  but 
will  surely  break  himself. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  marriages: 

Having  arranged  the  match,  the  go-between  nat- 
urally takes  pride  in  its  success.  He  befriends  the 
young  couple;  if  they  are  unhappy  he  mediates  be- 
tween them,  endeavouring  to  settle  their  difficulties; 
and  if  their  unhappiness  continues,  and  divorce  is 
spoken  of,  it  becomes  his  duty  to  exhaust  every  re- 
source to  prevent  their  acting  rashly. 

Before  arranging  the  match,  however,  the  go-be- 
tween takes  precautions  to  provide  against  such 
dangers  as  may  be  foreseen.  He  must,  for  example, 


90  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

make  discreet  investigations  as  to  the  health  of  both 
families  for  several  generations  back,  to  insure 
against  hereditary  taints,  among  which  the  most 
dreaded  is  leprosy. 

The  Japan  Year  Book,  in  most  cases  a  useful 
reference  work,  is  curiously  silent  on  the  subject 
of  leprosy,  though  several  pages  are  devoted  to 
tuberculosis  and  other  diseases.  It  was  reported 
recently  that  a  million  Japanese  have  tuberculosis, 
but  leprosy,  though  less  contagious  and  consequently 
much  less  frequent,  is  more  feared.  An  authority 
has  told  me  that  there  are  probably  two  million 
lepers  in  the  world  and  that  the  only  countries 
free  from  the  disease  are  England  and  Scotland, 
from  which  it  has  been  eradicated  by  segregation. 
It  is  estimated  that  New  York  City  has  one  hundred 
lepers,  and  that  there  are  cases  of  it  in  most,  if 
not  all  states  in  the  Union.  Yet  according  to 
the  government  report  only  three  states  —  Cali- 
fornia, Louisiana,  and  Massachusetts — make  pro- 
vision for  the  segregation  and  care  of  sufferers  from 
this  most  terrible  of  diseases.  Some  people  give 
the  number  of  lepers  in  Japan  as  under  twenty 
thousand.  The  Home  Office  sets  the  figure  at  sixty- 
four  thousand.  Specialists,  however,  say  that  even 
the  latter  figure  is  far  too  low,  and  that  the  actual 
number  is  nearer  one  hundred  thousand. 

The  first  leprosarium  in  Japan  was  started  twenty- 
eight  years  ago  by  Roman  Catholic  missionaries. 
A  few  years  later  a  second  leper  hospital  was  founded 
by  Miss  H.  Riddell,  an  Englishwoman  who  has  been 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  91 

probably  the  greatest  single  influence  in  bettering 
conditions  for  the  Japanese  lepers.  Miss  RiddelTs 
leprosarium  at  Kumamoto,  south  Japan,  was,  I  be- 
lieve, used  by  the  Japanese  Government  as  a  model 
for  the  State  leprosariums  of  which  there  are  now 
five.  Other  such  institutions  are  operated  by  mis- 
sionaries and  private  individuals,  but  the  work  must 
be  greatly  extended  if  it  is  hoped  to  check  the 
spread  of  the  disease,  to  say  nothing  of  stamping  it 
out. 

A  Japanese  friend  of  mine  who  has  frequently 
acted  as  go-between  in  arranging  matches  for  em- 
ployees of  a  large  company  of  which  he  is  an  official, 
tells  me  that  girls  in  families  tainted  with  leprosy 
are  often  exceptionally  beautiful,  and  that  they  fre- 
quently have  very  white  skins.  In  certain  parts 
of  Japan  where  leprosy  is  common  there  are,  he 
tells  me,  rich  families  having  beautiful  daughters 
for  whom  it  is  impossible  to  find  husbands  in  the 
neighbourhood  because  of  rumours  that  the  dread 
disease  is  in  their  blood.  Such  families  occasionally 
move  to  the  great  cities  where  they  seek  to  find  hus- 
bands for  their  daughters  through  matrimonial  agents 
or  by  personal  advertisements  in  newspapers.  The 
custom  of  advertising  for  a  husband  or  a  wife  has 
of  late  years  grown  considerably,  and  as  has  hap- 
pened in  this  country,  rascalities  are  sometimes  dis- 
covered behind  such  advertisements,  wherefore  the 
police  keep  an  eye  on  matrimonial  agencies. 

One  reason  why  accurate  statistics  on  leprosy 
are  hard  to  get,  not  only  in  Japan,  but  in  all  coiin- 


92  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

tries,  is  that  families  in  which  a  case  occurs  will  often 
go  to  great  lengths  to  conceal  it.  In  Japan  this  is 
particularly  true  because  there  a  leper  cannot  marry, 
and  leprosy  is  cause  for  divorce  not  only  in  the 
case  of  the  individual  actually  afflicted,  but  in 
that  of  the  victim's  blood  relations  including  those 
as  far  removed  as  second  cousins. 

No  wonder  the  go-between  feels  a  sense  of  respon- 
sibility! 


CHAPTER     VIII 

Wedding  Gifts — A  Wife's  Duties — Adopted  Son-Husbands— 
Women  in  Business  and  Professional  Life — Actresses — The 
"New  Woman" — Kissing  as  a  Business  Custom — Film 
Censorship— "Oi,  Koral"— Women  of  Old  Japan— The 
Change  is  Coming 

THOUGH  the  Japanese  system  of  arranged 
marriages  is  sometimes  likened  to  the  French 
system,   the   two   are   quite   different.     In 
France  the  great  point  is  the  bride's  dowry,  but  the 
Japanese  bride  is  not  necessarily  expected  to  bring  a 
dowry  of  money.    Her  wedding  present  from  her 
parents  consists  as  a  rule  of  furniture  and  clothing 
which  they  give  according  to  their  purse. 

The  ceremonies  connected  with  a  Japanese  wed- 
ding are  extremely  interesting,  but  are  too  elaborate 
to  be  gone  into  here.  There  is  no  wedding  trip. 
The  bride  moves  at  once  to  the  home  of  her  husband's 
parents,  unless  she  has  married  a  younger  son  suffi- 
ciently prosperous  and  enterprising  to  set  up  a  home 
of  his  own.  The  rule  is  that  the  eldest  son  continues 
to  live  under  the  parental  roof  after  his  marriage. 
Along  with  her  name  and  residence  the  bride  trans- 
fers her  allegiance  absolutely  to  the  husband's  family. 
Particular  stress  is  laid  upon  her  duty  to  her  hus- 
band's mother. 

93 


94  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

This  fact  is  recognized  in  a  textbook  issued  by 
the  Imperial  Department  of  Education  for  use  in 
the  higher  girls'  schools,  which  says: 

Absence  of  harmony  is  often  witnessed  between  a  husband's 
mother  and  her  daughter-in-law,  and  this  is  often  traceable  to 
the  latter's  disobedience  and  undutifulness.  The  mother-in-law 
may  be  too  conservative  to  get  on  smoothly  with  the  young 
daughter-in-law  trained  in  new  ideas,  but  dutifulness,  patience, 
and  sincerity  on  the  latter's  part  will  bring  on  peace  and  harmony 
....  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  daughter-in-law,  while 
tolerant  of  her  own  weaknesses,  is  critical  toward  her  husband's 
mother  and  complains  of  her  heartlessness,  she  will  only  betray 
her  own  unworthmess.  These  points  should  always  be  kept 
in  mind  by  young  girls. 


Young  Japanese  heiresses  are  doubly  fortunate 
since  their  affluence  provides,  among  other  comforts, 
a  means  of  escaping  the  dreaded  mother-in-law. 
Instead  of  moving  to  her  husband's  home,  an  heiress 
will  often  bring  her  husband  to  the  shelter  of  her  own 
paternal  roof,  where  by  adoption  he  becomes  a  son 
of  her  family,  taking  the  family  name.  One  hears 
that  the  bed  of  roses  sought  by  some  of  these  muko- 
yoshi,  or  adopted  son-husbands,  does  not  prove 
always  to  be  free  from  thorns,  and  there  is  a  Japanese 
proverb  which  advises:  "If  you  have  left  so  much 
as  a  pound  of  bad  rice,  don't  become  a  muko-yoshi." 
The  muko-yoshi  is  not,  however,  always  married  to 
an  heiress.  Poor  families  having  daughters,  but  no 
sons,  will  often  take  in  a  muko-yoshi  to  perpetuate 
the  family  line  under  the  ancestral  roof. 
When  all  is  said,  there  is  no  question  that  the  con- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  95 

dition  of  Japanese  women  is  slowly  improving, 
although  the  woman  movement  there  is  still  in 
the  academic  stage.  Little  by  little  the  example 
of  women  in  America  and  England  is  making  itself 
felt,  and  the  educational  opportunities  open  to  women 
are  gradually  increasing.  The  average  college  for 
women  is  not,  to  be  sure,  comparable  with  the  or- 
dinary college  for  men,  but  there  is  said  to  be  one 
university  of  really  high  standing  which  is  open  to 
women,  and  a  number  of  other  co-educational  in- 
stitutions are  listed  as  fairly  good.  Waseda  College 
is  now  opening  its  doors  for  the  first  time  to  women 
as  well  as  men,  and  though  women  cannot  graduate 
from  Tokyo  Imperial  University,  I  am  informed 
that  they  are  permitted  to  attend  lectures  there. 

Women  are  going  more  and  more  into  business 
and  professional  life.  Great  numbers  of  them  are 
now  employed  in  the  government  postal  and  railway 
offices,  in  the  offices  of  prefectures  and  municipalities, 
and,  of  course,  in  the  telephone  service,  as  well  as  by 
private  companies  of  all  kinds.  Employers  report 
steady  improvement  in  the  standard  of  intelligence 
and  capability  among  their  woman  employees. 
Women,  they  say,  do  their  work  well  and  are  usually 
content  with  small  salaries.  In  seeking  positions 
they  generally  declare  that  they  wish  to  occupy 
themselves  profitably  between  the  time  of  leaving 
high  school  and  that  of  marrying. 

Eliminating,  for  the  time  being,  the  geisha,  who 
because  of  her  curious  occupation  will  be  separately 
discussed,  and  who  does  not  in  any  case  fit  into  a 


96  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

discussion  of  woman's  progress,  since  she  is  in  some 
measure  a  barrier  to  it,  we  find  that  the  medical 
profession  is  probably  the  most  profitable  field  for 
woman  workers.  There  are  some  seven  or  eight 
hundred  woman  doctors  in  Japan,  of  whom  almost 
half  are  graduates  of  the  Tokyo  School  for  Women, 
founded  by  a  woman  physician,  Dr.  Y.  Yoshioka. 

Trained  nursing  is  also  a  popular  occupation, 
and  many  girls  have  lately  been  leaving  office  and 
telephone  work  to  take  it  up,  chiefly  for  the  reason 
that  trained  nurses  receive  from  $1  to  |1.25  per 
day,  which  is  considered  good  pay. 

Until  ten  or  a  dozen  years  ago  there  were  no 
actresses  in  Japan,  female  roles  invariably  having 
been  played  by  men,  but  the  octogenarian  Baron 
Shibusawa  (lately  created  Viscount),  who  has  done 
so  much  toward  liberalizing  the  thought  of  Japan 
in  many  lines,  founded  a  school  for  actresses,  with 
the  result  that  there  is  now  a  place  for  them,  and 
that  a  few  have  come  to  be  well  known,  although  none 
is  as  yet  so  popular  as  are  the  best-known  actors. 
Actors  hold  in  Japan  a  social  position  similar  to  that 
held  by  Occidental  players  a  century  or  more  ago. 
They  are  distinctly  a  lower  caste,  and  while  they  are 
admired  for  their  art,  and  are  adored  by  young  girls 
as  matinee  idols  are  with  us,  they  are  considered 
as  belonging  to  a  social  stratum  in  which  geisha 
and  wrestlers  figure. 

There  are  now  perhaps  a  dozen  or  more  women 
working  as  reporters  and  special  writers  on  the  vari- 
ous Tokyo  newspapers.  Miss  Osawa,  who  started 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  97 

work  on  the  Jiji  Shimpo  twenty-one  years  ago,  is,  I 
believe,  the  dean  of  Japanese  woman  journalists. 

There  are  more  than  twenty  well-known  monthly 
magazines  for  women,  many  of  them  edited  by 
women  and  largely  contributed  to  by  woman  writers. 
Authorship  is  a  traditional  occupation  for  women 
in  Japan,  women's  names  being  among  the  greatest 
in  the  nation's  ancient  literature — in  which  con- 
nection it  is  interesting  to  note  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  old-time  authoresses  were  courtesans. 

One  hears  a  good  deal  of  talk  of  the  "new  woman" 
in  Japan,  and  perhaps  the  surest  indication  that  she 
is  coming  into  being  is  the  fact  that  supposedly 
humorous  postcards  are  sold  on  the  Tokyo  streets, 
in  which  the  new  woman  is  shown  in  various  dicta- 
torial attitudes  before  a  cringing  husband.  Once, 
at  a  dinner  I  attended  in  Osaka,  a  woman  who  runs 
a  business  training  school  for  girls,  arose  and  made  a 
short  speech.  I  noticed  that  while  she  spoke  not  a 
few  of  the  men  smiled  pityingly.  From  this  item 
American  women  old  enough  to  recall  the  early  days 
of  the  woman  movement  in  this  country  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  estimating  the  distance  that  the  Japan- 
ese woman  has  yet  to  go. 

Japanese  ladies  who  have  the  time  and  the  inclina- 
tion for  charitable  activity  accomplish  a  great  deal. 
The  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  active  in  Japan,  Mrs.  Yajima, 
its  president,  a  lady  who,  in  1920,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight,  went  to  England  for  the  International 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention,  being  perhaps  the  leader 
among  progressive  women  of  the  land.  The  Red 


98  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Cross  has  a  large  membership,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
like  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  has  a  firmly  fixed  and  useful 
place,  carrying  on  a  wide  variety  of  activities.  Among 
these  are  classes  to  teach  young  girls  the  ways  of  the 
business  world  which  is  so  rapidly  opening  to  them. 
As  an  indication  of  the  need  for  such  instruction,  a 
lady  who  works  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Tokyo  told  me 
of  a  case  in  which  a  Japanese  girl  who  came  for  in- 
struction reported  that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  kissing 
her  foreign  employer  good  morning  and  good  night, 
\  in  the  belief — a  belief  we  must  suppose  to  have  been 
inculcated  by  him — that  such  was  the  general 
business  custom. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  Japanese  never  kiss. 
Bowing  is  the  national  form  of  salutation,  though 
those  accustomed  to  meet  foreigners  shake  hands 
with  them.  The  fact  as  to  kissing  is  that  one  never 
sees  it,  even  between  mother  and  child,  and  that 
this  is  interpreted  as  signifying  that  kissing  is  un- 
known. That  is  not  the  case.  I  own  an  old  print 
by  Utamaro  which  shows  a  man  and  a  woman  kissing 
with  the  greatest  zeal.  The  Japanese  simply  do 
not  kiss  indiscriminately  or  in  public  places. 

The  feeling  against  demonstrations  of  affection 
in  public  is  so  strong  that  when  American  motion 
pictures  were  first  taken  to  Japan,  audiences  would 
hoot  at  those  tender  passages  so  much  enjoyed  by 
some  persons  in  this  country.  For  several  years 
past,  however,  all  such  representations  have  been 
cut  from  American  films  intended  for  exhibition 
over  there.  This  work  is  done  by  an  American 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  99 

who  lives  in  Japan,  and  who  has  made  up  what  is 
probably  one  of  the  strangest  films  in  the  world  by 
assembling  all  the  cuts  into  one  awful  reel  of  lust 
and  osculation,  in  which  figure  most  of  the  widely 
known  American  movie  stars.  This  film  he  some- 
times runs  off  privately  for  his  friends,  and  it  is  said 
to  leave  those  who  witness  it  in  a  frame  of  mind 
to  vote  kissing  a  capital  offence. 

In  a  rather  pitiful  list  of  ten  requests  made  by  a 
Japanese  wife  to  her  husband,  and  exhibited  as  a 
poster  at  the  Girls'  Industrial  School  of  Tokyo,  was 
the  appeal:  "Please  stop  saying  *0i,  kora,'  when 
you  call  me." 

Oi,  the  expression  used  by  most  Japanese  hus- 
bands when  they  call  their  wives,  is  about  equivalent 
to  our  "Hallo!"  or  "Hey!"  Sometimes  a  husband 
will  call  his  wife  by  name,  but  one  more  often  hears 
"Oi,"  or  "Oi,  01,"  even  among  persons  of  position. 
Oi  is  more  familiar  than  rude.  A  man  would  say  it 
to  his  close  friend.  But  a  woman  would  never  say 
it  to  her  husband.  Kora  is  really  objectionable, 
being  an  exclamation  addressed  only  to  inferiors. 
Naturally,  then,  wives  do  not  like  it,  whether  they 
make  bold  to  declare  the  fact  or  not.  For  a  wife 
may  not  even  call  her  husband  by  his  first  name, 
but  must  address  him  as  anata,  which  is  a  respectful 
form  for  "you." 

It  has  been  declared  that  the  peasant  woman 
who  works  beside  her  husband  in  the  fields  or  fishing 
villages,  or  who  helps  him  push  a  cart,  or  navigate  a 
boat  on  the  rivers  and  canals,  is  the  happiest  woman 


100  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

in  Japan,  being  a  real  companion  to  him.  However, 
that  may  be,  there  is  much  room  for  improvement  in 
the  attitude  of  the  average  middle-class  Japanese 
toward  his  wife.  He  gets  into  automobiles  and  rail- 
road trams  ahead  of  her  and  fcas  the  air  of  ignoring 
her  in  public. 

It  should  be  said,  though,  that  the  attitude  of  such 
husbands  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  they  do  not 
care  for  their  wives.  Rather  it  means  that  they  are 
old-fashioned — that  the  ancient  notion  of  woman's 
position,  based  on  the  teachings  of  Buddhism  and 
Confucianism,  has  clung  to  them.  But  most  of  all,  I 
think,  it  reveals  their  fear  of  being  thought  ridiculous. 
For  if  a  man  showed  his  wife  what  we  should  call  or- 
dinary civility,  the  old-school  Japanese  thought  him 
henpecked. 

Strangely  enough  the  position  occupied  by  women 
in  the  days  of  Japan's  early  antiquity  was  much 
higher  than  it  has  since  become.  In  olden  times 
women  took  part  in  war,  had  a  voice  in  politics,  and 
in  other  ways  held  their  own  with  men.  In  the 
eighth  century  successive  Empresses  occupied  the 
Imperial  throne,  and  the  influence  of  certain  able 
women  was  strongly  felt  at  court;  two  centuries  later 
we  find  a  great  era  of  literary  women  many  of  whose 
names  are  famous  to  this  day. 

But  soon   after   the  introduction   of  Buddhism' 
and    Confucianism    all    this    was    changed.     The 
Buddhist  doctrine  called  women  creatures  of  sin, 
treacherous  and  cruel;  and  says  Confucius:  "When 
a  boy  is  born  let  him  play  with  jewels;  when  a  girl 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN          ;1G1; 

is  born  let  her  play  with  tiles."  So  it  came  about 
that  woman's  position  declined  until  it  was  pos- 
sible for  a  famous  moralist  to  write  a  treatise  on  the 
Duty  of  Woman,  containing  such  maxims  as  these: 

A  woman  should  look  upon  her  husband  as  if  he  were  Heaven 
itself,  and  never  weary  of  thinking  how  she  may  yield  to  him, 
and  thus  escape  celestial  castigation.  Let  her  never  dream  of 
jealousy.  If  her  husband  be  dissolute  she  must  expostulate 
with  him  but  never  either  nurse  or  vent  her  anger.  Should 
her  husband  become  angry  she  should  obey  him  with  fear  and 
trembling  and  not  set  herself  up  against  him  in  anger  and  fro- 
wardness. 

An  endless  quantity  of  such  quotations  may  be 
taken  from  the  writings  of  moral  teachers,  and  in 
them  is  indicated  the  debt  of  the  women  of  Japan 
to  Chinese  doctrines.  In  view  of  which  it  seems 
strange  indeed  to  visit  a  Buddhist  temple  and  there 
be  shown  coils  of  thick  black  rope  which  was  used  in 
the  erection  of  the  building,  and  which  was  made 
entirely  from  the  hair  of  devout  women  who  sacrificed 
their  prized  tresses  for  this  purpose,  being  too  poor 
to  give  aught  else. 

Thus,  while  the  Occident  was  teaching  men 
to  be  chivalrous  toward  women,  the  Orient  was 
teaching  women  to  be,  as  one  might  put  it,  chivalrous 
toward  men.  But  in  both  cases  the  modern  ten- 
dency is  toward  change.  The  growth  of  woman's 
economic  independence  in  this  country,  making  her 
man's  competitor,  tends  to  make  man  less  polite 
in  his  general  casual  contacts  with  her.  Having 
elected  to  be  his  equal  she  must  take  her  chances 


102  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

with  him  in  the  subway  rush  and  in  the  scramble 
for  street-car  seats. 

Fifty  years  hence,  Japan  will  perhaps  have  reached 
this  pass,  but  the  present  rudeness  of  men  to  women 
is  not  that  of  equals  to  equals,  but  of  superiors  to 
inferiors;  that  is  the  thing  that  must  be  changed. 

And  it  will  be  changed.  Slowly,  very  slowly,  the 
attitude  of  the  Japanese  man  toward  the  Japanese 
woman  is  improving.  I  found  that  evening  classes 
were  being  held  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Tokyo  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  young  husbands  and  wives 
how  to  enjoy  social  life  together,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  in  fashionable  society  the  better  type 
of  modern  young  husband  treats  his^  wife  with  much 
more  consideration  and  courtesy,  and  makes  much 
more  a  companion  of  her,  than  was  customary  or 
even  possible  under  the  old  regime.  Twenty-five 
years  ago  it  was  well  enough  for  a  man  to  walk  on 
the  street  with  a  geisha,  but  the  man  who  walked 
in  public  with  his  wife  was  jeered  at,  and  might  even 
find  himself  a  target  for  missiles.  Though  that  is 
no  longer  the  case,  the  tradition  that  man  should 
assume  a  superior  air  still  to -some  extent  survives 
among  the  masses,  so  that  for  a  husband  to  treat 
his  wife  with  perfect  courtesy  before  strangers  re- 
quires, singular  though  it  may  seem,  real  moral 
courage. 


CHAPTER    IX 

Baseball  in  Japan — The  National  Sport — Wrestling  and 
Shintoism — Fans — Wrestlers9  Earnings  —  The  National 
Game  Building — Formalities  Before  the  Matches — The 
Super-Champions — Peculiarities  of  Japanese  Wrestling — 
Days  Off 

THOUGH  the  grip  of  the  American  national 
game  upon  Japan  is  sufficiently  strong  to 
have  brought  a  Japanese  university  team  to 
this  country  and  to  have  taken  one  or  two  American 
university  teams  to  Japan  for  return  games,  there 
is  as  yet  no  professional  baseball  in  Nippon,  and 
the  kind  of  wrestling  known  as  sumo  still  maintains 
its  ancient  prestige  as  the  national  sport. 

Having  been  in  Tokyo  at  the  time  of  an  election 
and  again  during  the  annual  spring  wrestling  season, 
I  could  not  but  he  struck  by  the  fact  that  the  street 
crowds  watching  the  bulletin  boards  for  the  results 
of  the  physical  contests  were  larger  and  more  enthu- 
siastic than  the  crowds  which  assembled  to  learn 
the  results  of  the  political  struggle. 

The  average  Japanese  knows,  I  believe,  about  as 
much  and  about  as  little  of  domestic  politics  as 
the  average  American.  He  has  a  loose  idea  of  the 
structure  of  the  government  and  of  political  machin- 
ery; he  follows  political  leaders  rather  than  causes, 

103 


104          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  like  us  he  is  prone  to  read  rich  meanings  into 
the  glib  banalities  of  politicians. 

Wrestling  he  understands  much  better.     He  knows 
all  its  fine  points.     His  enthusiasms  on  this  subject 
are  informed  enthusiasms,  and  unlike  the  baseball 
fan,  he  inherits  them  from  a  long  line  of  ancestors— 
for  compared  with  wrestling,  baseball  is  a  brand- 
new  sport.     When  the  Greeks  and  Romans  wrestled, 
the  Japanese  were  wrestling,   too.     In  the  ninth 
century  the  Japanese  throne  was  wrestled  for.    A 
Mikado  died  and  left  two  sons,  and  these,  instead 
of  going  to  war  against  each  other,  left  their  claims 
tpxbe  settled  by  a  wrestling  match. 
/      The  sport  is,  furthermore,  associated,  in  a  manner 
f^more  or  less  diaphanous,  with  Shintoism.     Certain 
i  Shinto  traditions  are  connected  with  it,  and  the 
*  matches  used  to  be  held  in  the  grounds  of  Shinto 
temples — as  indeed  amateur  matches  often  are  to- 
\day  in  country  districts. 

For  many  years  past  it  has  been  customary  to 
hold  wrestling  meets  in  Tokyo  twice  yearly,  in 
January  and  May.  Prior  to  the  construction  of  the 
Kokugikwan,  or  National  Game  Building,  the  large 
steel  and  concrete  structure  in  which  the  meets  are 
now  held,  they  occurred  in  the  grounds  of  the  Eko-in 
temple.  January  is  a  cold  month  in  Tokyo  and 
even  May  is  often  chilly,  wherefore,  the  audience 
was  none  too  comfortable  at  these  open-air  matches. 
Moreover,  Japan  is  a  rainy  land;  the  old  open-air 
matches  had  frequently  to  be  declared  off  because 
of  bad  weather;  sometimes  it  took  twenty  days  to 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  105 

run  off  a  ten-day  meet.  But  the  Kokugikwan  has 
put  an  end  to  these  difficulties.  The  modern  Japan- 
ese wrestling  fan  keeps  warm  and  dry,  with  the  result 
that  the  sport  now  has  more  devotees  than  ever. 

During  the  wrestling  season  Tokyo  is  profoundly 
excited.  Men  of  large  affairs  have  a  way  of  disap- 
pearing mysteriously  from  their  offices.  Officials 
of  banks  and  large  corporations  are  vaguely  reported 
to  be  "out  of  town  for  a  few  days."  Prince  Toku- 
gawa,  President  of  the  House  of  Peers,  suddenly 
becomes  a  difficult  gentleman  to  find — unless, 
perchance,  you  happen  to  know  where  to  look  for 
him.  So,  too,  with  many  a  man  of  smaller  conse- 
quence. If  he  can  afford  it — often  whether  he  can 
afford  it  or  not — he  drops  his  work  and  vanishes. 
But  he  does  not  always  vanish;  for  if  his  enthusiasm 
for  wrestling  verges  on  dementia  he  may  adorn 
himself  in  an  eccentric  manner  and  make  himself 
conspicuous  in  the  auditorium  by  his  antics  and  his 
cries.  Thus  certain  wrestling  fans  of  Tokyo  have 
come  to  be  considered  privileged  characters — as, 
for  instance,  the  one  who  always  appears  at  the 
great  matches  in  a  coat  of  scarlet  silk,  which  his 
father  wore  before  him,  and  whose  habit  it  is  to 
prance  down  the  aisle  before  the  wrestlers  as  they 
march  in  solemn  procession  to  the  ring. 

When  I  inquired  about  tickets  for  one  of  the  days 
of  the  great  meet  I  was  strongly  reminded  of  our  World 
Series  baseball  games.  It  seemed  that  tickets  were 
not  to  be  had.  Eventually,  however,  I  managed 
to  secure  them  in  the  way  such  things  are  secured 


106          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

the  world  over — by  means  of  "pull."  I  found 
a  friend  who  had  a  sporting  friend  who  knew  a 
wrestler  who  could  get  seats. 

The  attitude  of  the  sporting  Japanese  gentleman 
toward  wrestlers  resembles  that  of  the  sporting 
American  or  Englishman  toward  pugilists  and 
jockeys.  It  is  chic  to  know  them,  but  not  as  equals. 
One  is  very  genial  with  them  and  at  the  same  time 
a  little  patronizing,  whereas  they  are  expected  to 
assume  a  slightly  deferential  manner.  Perhaps 
the  attitude  of  the  Japanese  sporting  gentleman 
toward  his  favourite  wrestlers  is  rather  more  like 
that  of  the  Spanish  sporting  gentleman  toward  bull- 
fighters, for  in  both  countries  it  is  customary  for 
the  wealthy  patron  to  give  expensive  presents  to 
the  hero.  But  whereas  in  Spain  handsome  jewelry 
is  sometimes  thrown  to  the  bull-fighters  in  the  ring, 
it  is  the  custom  in  Japan  for  the  fan  to  throw  his  hat, 
coat,  pocketbook,  cigarette  case,  or  whatnot  to  the 
popular  idol,  who  later  sends  the  trophy  back  to 
the  owner,  receiving  in  exchange  a  valuable  gift- 
frequently  a  gift  of  money. 

Hence,  though  the  actual  pay  of  wrestlers  is 
small,  perquisites  make  the  profession  profitable 
to  those  fairly  successful  in  it,  and  poor  parents, 
having  a  son  of  unusually  large  proportions,  are 
likely  to  look  with  resignation  upon  the  Japanese 
theory  that  great  size  is  generally  accompanied  by 
stupidity,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  dimensions  of  their 
offspring  because  of  a  fond  hope  that  he  may  become 
a  champion  wrestler  and  grow  rich. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  107 

My  friend  the  Japanese  sporting  gentleman  (who, 
by  the  way,  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Michigan)  did  more  than  obtain  tickets  for  me.  He 
called  with  his  automobile  and  took  me  to  the  am- 
phitheatre. 

"Our  mode  of  wrestling  is  not  at  all  like  yours," 
he  said,  "and  I  want  to  explain  it  to  you." 

It  was  about  eleven  in  the  morning  when,  after 
traversing  several  streets  strung  with  rows  of  Japan- 
ese lanterns,  and  filled  with  hurrying  throngs,  we 
reached  the  great  circular  concrete  building  into 
which  an  eager  crowd  was  pouring  through  many 
portals — an  audience  which,  though  made  up  for 
the  most  part  of  men,  contained  not  a  few  women 
and  some  children.  Many,  though  by  no  means 
all  of  the  women  were  geisha,  for  wrestlers  have 
about  the  same  rank  as  geisha  in  the  social  scale, 
and  they  are  often  the  heroes  as  well  as  the  intimates 
of  the  fair  entertainers. 

As  we  approached  the  amphitheatre  the  thought 
came  to  me  that  there  is  a  curious  sameness  in  the 
atmosphere  surrounding  great  sporting  events  the 
world  over,  however  little  the  various  sports  them- 
selves may  resemble  one  another.  To  approach 
this  great  building  in  Tokyo  during  wrestling  week 
is  quite  like  approaching  the  Plaza  de  Toros  in 
Madrid,  or  the  building  in  which  jaialai  is  played  in 
Havana,  or  the  Polo  Grounds  in  New  York,  or  the 
Yale  Bowl,  or  the  Harvard  Stadium. 

The  Kokugikwan  is  a  circular  building  roofed 
with  glass  and  seating  fourteen  or  fifteen  thousand 


108          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

persons.  At  the  centre  is  a  mound  of  earth  with  a 
flat  top  on  which  the  ring  is  marked  with  a  border 
of  woven  straw.  Over  the  ring  is  a  kiosk  supported 
by  four  heavy  posts  which  are  respectively  red, 
green,  black,  and  white  in  colour,  and  are  considered 
to  symbolize  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  The 
kiosk  has  a  roof  somewhat  resembling  that  of  a 
temple  and  is  embellished  with  curtains  of  purple- 
and-white  silk  which  hang  down  a  few  feet  below 
the  eaves. 

The  main  floor  of  the  amphitheatre  is  banked 
up  toward  the  back.  The  seats  at  the  ringside  are 
reserved  for  the  participant  wrestlers;  behind  these 
are  some  tiers  of  chairs  which  are  presumably 
occupied  by  the  most  frantic  fans,  and  behind  the 
chairs  comes  a  great  area  of  boxes,  each  seating 
from  four  to  six  persons.  These  boxes,  like  those 
of  a  typical  Japanese  theatre,  do  not  contain  chairs, 
but  are  floored  with  thick  straw  mats  on  which  are 
cushions  for  the  occupants  to  squat  on.  The  only 
division  between  the  boxes  is  a  railing  about  a  foot 
high.  Above  the  main  floor  are  two  galleries  running 
all  the  way  around  the  building.  The  Imperial 
box  is  in  the  first  gallery.  People  in  the  galleries 
sit  in  chairs,  in  front  of  which  are  narrow  shelf-like 
tables  from  which  luncheon  may  be  eaten — for 
wrestling  matches,  like  the  old-style  theatrical  per- 
formances, last  practically  all  day. 

During  the  first  part  of  the  morning,  bouts  between 
numerous  minor  wrestlers  are  run  off,  but  at  about 
eleven  the  building  fills  up,  for  everyone  wishes  to 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  109 

see  the  two  groups  of  champions  march  in.  One 
group  represents  East  Japan,  the  other  West  Japan; 
each  group  contains  about  twenty  men,  and  their 
seats  are  at  the  eastern  and  western  sides  of  the  ring, 
respectively.  This  representation  of  East  and  West 
is  not  literal,  but  is  the  traditional  division.  A  man 
from  an  Eastern  province  may  be  champion  of  the 
West,  and  vice  versa. 

Gross-looking  creatures,  naked  to  the  waist, 
they  enter  in  single  file,  each  wearing  a  long  velvet 
apron,  elaborately  embroidered  and  tasselled.  These 
aprons,  which  are  given  to  them  by  their  patrons, 
are  removed  before  the  contests,  a  loin-cloth  and 
short  skirt  of  fringe  being  worn  beneath  them. 

Marching  into  the  ring  the  champions  form  a 
circle  and  go  through  a  series  of  set  exercises,  clapping 
their  hands  in  unison,  raising  their  legs  high  and 
stamping  their  feet  violently  upon  the  ground  to 
exhibit  their  muscular  flexibility.  After  these  ex- 
ercises they  march  out  again. 

Next  enter  the  supreme  champions  of  the  Eastern 
group  and  of  the  Western  group — the  two  great 
wrestlers  of  Japan — popular  idols  who,  by  reason  of 
having  remained  undefeated  throughout  three  or 
more  successive  wrestling  meets,  are  entitled  to  wear 
not  only  the  elaborate  velvet  apron,  but  a  very  thick 
white  rope  wound  several  times  about  their  waists  and 
knotted  in  a  certain  way. 

Each  of  these  super-champions  is  attended  on 
his  march  to  the  ring  by  two  other  wrestlers.  The 
one  who  precedes  him  is  known  as  the  tsuyu  harai, 


110          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

or  dew-brusher.  In  theory,  he  clears  the  way,  brush- 
ing dew  from  imaginary  grass  before  the  feet  of  the 
mighty  one.  The  attendant  who  brings  up  the  rear 
is  the  tachi  mochi,  or  sword-bearer;  for  according 
to  old  Japanese  custom  no  wrestler  except  a  super- 
champion  was  allowed  to  wear  a  sword,  and  though 
the  sword  is  now  only  a  symbol,  the  custom  still 
survives,  and  the  sword  of  the  super-champion 
must  be  carried  in  behind  him. 

To  one  accustomed  to  the  sort  of  wrestling  prac- 
tised in  the  Western  world,  many  of  these  champions 
do  not  look  like  athletes,  since  they  are,  as  a  rule, 
so  fat  that  their  paunches  bulge  like  balconies  over 
the  tops  of  their  aprons  and  loin  cloths,  and  their 
arms  and  thighs  tremble  like  jelly  when  they  walk. 
Under  the  Japanese  method  of  wrestling,  however, 
each  match  is  quickly  settled,  wherefore  endurance 
is  not  so  important  as  great  weight  and  power  in 
the  first  moment  of  attack.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
fat  wrestlers  are  usually  the  most  successful.  Some 
of  them  have  weighed  as  much  as  three  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds.  But  now  and  then  there  comes 
along  a  super-champion  like  Tachiyama,  who  is  not 
very  fat,  and  who  conquers  by  strength,  speed,  and 
reach  rather  than  by  mere  weight. 

When  the  super-champions  have  exhibited  them- 
selves, the  two  groups  of  lesser  champions  return 
and  occupy  their  seats  around  the  ring.  The  four 
referees — retired  wrestlers — take  seats  on  cushions, 
one  at  each  corner  of  the  kiosk,  and  the  umpire, 
wearing  beautiful  flowing  silks  and  a  strange  little 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  111 

pointed  hat  like  that  of  a  Buddhist  priest,  enters 
the  ring  and,  holding  up  the  lacquered  wooden 
fan,  which  is  his  badge  of  office,  announces  in  im- 
pressive tones  the  names  of  the  two  men  who  are 
about  to  meet. 

The  adversaries  then  enter  the  ring  and  go  through 
the  same  old  series  of  stampings  and  flexings.  Each 
takes  a  handful  of  salt  from  a  box  at  his  side  of  the 
ring,  puts  a  little  in  his  mouth  and  throws  the  rest 
upon  the  ground  before  him.  This  is  supposed 
to  have  a  purifying  effect,  not  in  the  antiseptic 
sense,  but  in  some  occult  way.  Salt  is  often  used 
thus  in  Japan. 

Having  completed  these  preliminaries  the  two  men 
take  their  positions  facing  each  other,  braced  upon 
all  fours.  But  this  apparent  readiness  by  no  means 
indicates  that  the  contest  is  commencing.  Instead 
of  immediately  attacking,  they  will  often  remain 
thus  poised  for  minutes,  sharply  watching  each 
other.  Then  one  of  them  will  get  up  and  take  a 
drink,  or  will  go  for  some  more  salt  and  throw  it  in 
the  ring.  Also  one  or  the  other  will  often  make  a 
false  start,  attacking  when  his  adversary  is  not  ready 
to  accept  combat;  whereafter  the  two  resume  their 
crouching  attitudes,  toes  braced,  hands  on  the 
ground.  This  sort  of  thing  may  continue  for  ten  or 
twenty  minutes,  to  the  accompaniment  of  howls 
from  the  fans,  who  shout  the  names  of  their  favour- 
ites and  bellow  Japanese  equivalents  for  such 
Americanisms  as  "Go  to  it!"  and  "Atta  Boy!" 

But  whereas  the  period  of  preparation  may  often 


112  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

be  measured  in  fractions  of  an  hour,  the  actual 
struggle  usually  consumes  but  a  few  seconds.  The 
men  spring  at  each  other  like  a  pair  of  savage  fighting 
dogs  and  the  contest  is  settled  before  you  know  it. 
There  is  none  of  that  straining  to  get  a  certain  hold, 
or  to  break  one,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  our 
style  of  wrestling,  and  you  never  see  the  contestants 
writhing  in  deadly  embrace  upon  the  floor.  The 
vanquished  need  not  necessarily  be  thrown  at  all, 
though  often  he  is.  If  any  portion  of  his  body,  other 
than  the  soles  of  his  feet,  touches  the  ground,  or  if 
(whether  he  be  thrown  or  not)  any  portion  of  his 
body  touches  the  ground  outside  the  ring,  that  means 
defeat.  In  case  both  men  fall,  or  are  forced  from 
the  ring  together,  the  one  who  first  makes  contact 
with  the  ground,  or  first  leaves  the  ring,  is  van- 
quished. 

Often  a  man  is  beaten  by  being  bent  over  until 
he  is  forced  to  support  himself  on  one  hand,  and 
there  have  been  cases  in  which  decisions  were  ren- 
dered merely  because  one  man's  head  was  bent 
down  until  his  top-knot  touched  the  floor.  A 
wrestler  will  sometimes  win  in  one  hard  push,  back- 
ing his  opponent  out  of  the  ring;  but  in  this  there  is 
always  the  danger  that  the  one  being  pushed  will 
at  the  last  moment  step  aside,  causing  the  adver- 
sary's own  momentum  to  carry  him  beyond  the 
boundary,  thus  applying  an  underlying  principle 
of  jiu-jutsa, — or  jiudo,  as  it  is  called  in  its  improved 
form — in  which  a  man's  own  strength  is  used  to 
defeat  him.  Frequently,  however,  there  will  be  a 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  113 

spectacular  throw;  and  sometimes,  when  this  occurs, 
the  ringside  seats,  so  coveted  at  wrestling  and  boxing 
matches  in  this  country,  are  not  highly  desirable. 
I  have  seen  huge  wrestlers  hurled  through  the  au- 
to land  sprawling  on  their  comrades  in  their  seats. 

When  a  close  decision  has  to  be  made  the  umpire 
confers  with  the  referees,  and  at  such  times  the 
audience  and  the  two  opposing  groups  of  wrestlers 
are  vociferous  in  support  of  the  contestant  they 
favour. 

To  the  credit  of  the  Japanese  be  it  said,  however, 
that  they  do  not  yell:  "Kill  the  umpire!"  when  dis- 
pleased by  a  decision  rendered  in  connection  with 
their  national  sport;  that  they  do  not  throw  bottles 
at  the  umpire,  and  that  it  never  becomes  necessary 
to  give  police  protection  to  an  umpire  whose  judg- 
ment has  not  accorded  with  that  of  the  crowd. 
The  Japanese,  you  see,  have  not  adopted  every 
detail  of  Western  civilization. 

I  must  have  seen  twenty-five  or  thirty  bouts  that 
day.  But  though  I  was  interested  I  cannot  pretend 
to  find  in  Japanese  wrestling  the  qualities  of  a  really 
great  sport.  Skill  their  wrestlers  have,  but  there 
is  no  call  for  stamina.  Their  style  of  wrestling 
seems  to  me  to  leave  off  where  ours  begins. 

Japanese  life  runs  at  lower  pressure  than  our  life. 
There  is  not  the  nervous  rush  about  it.  Matters 
move  at  a  more  comfortable  pace,  and  people  seem 
to  have  more  patience,  An  American  crowd  would 
become  restless  over  the  interminable  preliminaries 
of  each  Japanese  wrestling  bout,  and  would  find 


114          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

the  bout  itself  unsatisfactory  because  of  its  brevity 
and  the  lack  of  sustained  effort.  The  Japanese, 
on  the  other  hand,  seem  always  to  be  willing  to  wait 
for  something  to  happen.  One  notices  this  in 
innumerable  ways.  Motion  pictures  made  in  Japan 
are  likely  to  be,  from  our  point  of  view,  intolerably 
slow  in  their  action.  So  also  with  the  all-day  plays 
of  the  typical  Japanese  theatre. 

The  Japanese  business  man's  custom  of  taking 
a  day  off  whenever  it  happens  to  suit  him  is  doubtless 
due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  until  recently  Sunday  in 
Japan  was  just  like  any  other  day.  There  was  no 
regular  day  of  rest.  One  day  a  month  was  usually 
appointed  as  a  holiday  for  commercial  and  industrial 
workers;  later  it  became  two  days  a  month;  and 
at  last  there  developed  a  custom  of  making  those 
days  the  first  and  third  Sundays  of  the  month. 
For  though  Sunday  has,  of  course,  no  religious 
significance  in  the  eyes  of  the  large  body  of  Japanese, 
it  seemed  the  most  practical  day  to  select  for  a 
holiday  if  only  because  it  was  a  day  on  which  the 
offices  of  American  and  European  residents  were 
closed. 


CHAPTER    X 

j* 

The  Courageous  Congressmen — Geisha  and  Nesan — The 
Maple  Club — The  Gentleness  of  Servants — Removable  Walls 
— Dancing  Girls — A  Lesson  in  the  Use  of  Chopsticks — 
"Truthful  Girr—A  Toast  in  Sake— Drunkenness—My 
Friend  the  Amiable  Inebriate — The  Great  Rice-Ball  Mystery 

IT  AMUSED  me  to  hear,  a  little  while  ago, 
that  a  party  of  our  Congressmen,  on  a  junket 
in  Japan,  had  been  implored  by  certain  pious 
Americans  over  there,  to  avoid  such  sinful  things  as 
teahouses  and  geisha.  No  doubt  the  poor  devils  of 
Congressmen  had  fancied  they  would  be  able  to 
lead  their  own  lives  five  thousand  miles  from  home 
and  constituents.  And  evidently  they  proposed  to 
do  it,  for  they  replied  with  uncongressmanlike 
boldness  that  teahouses  and  geisha  were  among 
the  things  they  most  desired  to  see.  That  pleased 
me  not  only  because  it  showed  that  a  Congressman 
can  be  spunky — even  though  he  has  to  go  to  another 
hemisphere  to  do  it — but  because  it  showed  a 
normal  human  interest  in  what  is  assuredly  a  very 
curious  phase  of  life. 

I,  too,  was  interested  in  tea  houses  and  geisha,  and 
I  made  it  a  point  to  find  out  as  much  about  them 
as  I  could. 
The  first  geisha  I  saw  were  in  attendance  at  a 

115 


116  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

luncheon  for  some  forty  persons — about  half  of  them 
Americans — given  by  a  Tokyo  gentleman  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  us  what  a  purely  Japanese 
luncheon  was  like.  It  was  held  at  the  Maple 
Club,  a  large,  rambling  Japanese-style  building 
standing  in  charming  gardens  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  the  Tokyo  parks — a  Far  Eastern'  equivalent 
of  such  Parisian  restaurants  as  the  Cafe  d'Armenon- 
ville  or  the  Pre  Catelan. 

As  we  alighted  from  our  rickshas  a  flock  of  smil- 
ing serving  maids  appeared  in  the  doorway  to  greet 
us,  indicating  to  us  that  we  were  to  sit  on  the  high 
door-step  and  have  our  shoes  removed  by  the  blue- 
clad  coolies  who  were  in  attendance — each  with  the 
insignia  of  the  Maple  Club  in  a  large  design  upon 
the  back  of  his  coat.  (If  you  wish  the  coolie  who 
draws  your  ricksha  or  does  other  work  for  you 
to  wear  your  crest  you  supply  his  costume  and 
pay  him  a  few  cents  extra  per  day.) 

When  our  shoes  had  been  checked  and  our  feet 
encased  in  soft  woollen  slippers  like  bed-bootees, 
we  were  bowed  into  the  building  and  escorted 
through  a  series  of  rooms  with  soft  straw-matted 
floors  and  walls  of  wood  and  paper.  Emerging 
upon  an  outer  gallery  of  highly  polished  wood,  we 
followed  it,  looking  out  over  the  lovely  garden  as 
we  moved  along,  and  finally  reached  a  flight  of 
stairs,  also  of  wood  having  a  satiny  polish,  which 
led  to  the  banquet  hall.  Our  escorts  on  this  journey 
were  several  little  Japanese  maids  in  pretty  kimonos, 
who,  though  they  spoke  no  English,  talked  to  us  in 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  117 

soft  international  smiles.  No  one  without  a  sweet 
nature  could  smile  the  smile  of  one  of  these  Japanese 
serving  maids.  They  are  called  nesan,  meaning 
literally  "elder  sister."  This  familiar  appellation 
is  generally  used  in  speaking  to  a  maidservant 
whose  name  one  does  not  know,  and  in  the  term  is 
revealed  a  -hint  of  the  beautiful  relationship  which 
exists  in  Japan  between  master  and  servant,  whether 
in  a  private  house  or  a  Japanese  inn.  In  the  great 
cities  this  old  relationship  is  to  some  extent  breaking 
down  as  Japan  becomes  Westernized,  but  in  Japanese 
hotels  and  country  inns,  and  in  prosperous  homes 
one  sees  it  still.  Service  is  rendered  with  a  grace 
and  friendliness  which  make  it  very  charming. 
Even  about  the  menservants  in  the  houses  of  the 
rich  there  is  nothing  of  the  flunkey  spirit.  The  Jap- 
anese manservant  generally  wears  silken  robes  which 
give  him  a  fine  dignity  and  make  it  difficult,  some- 
times, to  differentiate  him  from  members  of  the  fam- 
ily. He  is  extremely  polite,  but  not  rigid.  You  feel 
that  he  is  a  self-respecting  man.  As  for  maidservants, 
they  are  like  so  many  pet  butterflies.  One  of  Japan's 
strongest  claims  to  democracy,  it  seems  to  me,  is 
founded  on  the  attitude  existing  between  master  and 
servant. 

Those  who  have  visited  Japan,  yet  who  do  not 
agree  with  me  as  to  the  exquisite  courtesy  of  the 
Japanese  servant,  will  be  those  whose  stopping 
places  have  been  European-style  hotels  in  the  large 
cities.  In  such  hotels  the  service  is  often  poor  and 
one  occasionally  encounters  a  servant  who  is  surly 


118  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  ill-mannered.  I  encountered  one  such  in 
Kobe — said  to  be  the  rudest  city  in  Japan.  But  by 
the  time  I  ran  across  him  I  had  seen  enough  of  the 
real  Japan  to  know  what  such  rudeness  signified. 
It  showed  merely  that  in  this  individual  case  native 
courtesy  had  been  worn  away  by  contact  with  in- 
numerable ill-bred  foreigners. 

But  to  return  to  our  luncheon. 

As  a  concession  to  American  custom  our  host 
greeted  us  with  a  handshake,  and  his  Japanese 
guests  walked  in  and  shook  hands  instead  of  dropping 
to  their  knees  on  entering  and  bowing  to  the  floor 
according  to  the  old  national  custom. 

The  room,  which  was  large,  well  illustrated  the 
elasticity  of  the  Japanese  style  of  building.  Five  or 
six  private  dining  rooms  usually  occupied  this  section 
of  the  house,  but  for  the  requirements  of  the  present 
occasion  the  walls  forming  these  rooms  had  been 
removed  making  the  entire  area  into  one  spacious 
chamber.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to  remove  such 
walls,  since  they  consist  only  of  a  series  of  screens 
of  wood  and  paper  which  slide  in  grooves  and  can 
easily  be  lifted  out  and  put  away  in  closets.  And  let 
me  add  that,  though  the  climate  of  Japan  is  very 
damp,  the  Japanese  use  such  thoroughly  seasoned 
wood,  and  work  in  wood  so  admirably,  that  I  never 
once  found  a  sliding  screen  that  stuck  in  its  grooves. 

For  the  meal  we  knelt  upon  silk  cushions 
laid  two  or  three  feet  apart  around  three  walls 
of  the  room.  As  the  weather  was  chilly  there 
stood  beside  each  of  us  a  brazier,  or  hibachi,  consist- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  119 

ing  of  a  pot  of  live  charcoal  standing  in  a  wooden 
box.  The  Japanese  love  of  finish  in  all  things  is 
shown  in  the  careful  way  they  have  of  banking  the 
ashes  in  a  hibachi,  and  making  neat  patterns  over 
the  top  of  them. 

In  front  of  each  of  us  was  placed  a  little  table  of  red 
lacquer  about  a  foot  high,  with  an  edge  like  that  of  a 
tray,  and  on  this  table  were  sundry  covered  bowls  of 
lacquer  and  of  china,  and  little  dishes  containing  sour 
pickles  and  a  pungent,  watery  brown  sauce.  In  front 
of  every  one  or  two  guests  knelt  a  nesan,  presiding 
over  a  covered  lacquered  tub,  containing  boiled  rice, 
which  is  eaten  with  almost  everything,  and  even 
mixed  with  green  tea  and  drunk  with  it  out  of  the 
rice-bowl. 

Also,  in  attendance  upon  each  guest,  there  was  a 
geisha.  Some  of  the  geisha  were  women  perhaps 
twenty  years  old,  wearing  handsome  dark  kimonos 
which  they  generally  carried  with  a  great  deal  of 
style,  but  others  were  little  maiko,  dancing  girls,  in 
brilliant-coloured  kimonos  with  the  yard-long  sleeves 
of  youth.  The  youngest  of  these  was  perhaps  twelve 
years  of  age,  while  the  oldest  may  have  been  sixteen. 

As  I  afterward  learned,  there  is  a  vast  difference 
between  various  grades  of  geisha.  Those  present  at 
this  luncheon  were  among  the  most  popular  in  Tokyo. 
They  were  truly  charming  creatures,  sweet-faced, 
soft-eyed  and  gentle,  with  beautiful  manners  and 
much  more  poise  than  is  shown  by  the  average 
Japanese  lady.  For  Japanese  ladies  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  accustomed  to  our  sort  of  mixed  social 


120  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

in  which  husbands  and  wives  take  part  together, 
whereas  geisha  are  in  the  business  of  entertaining 
men  and  presumably  understand  men  as  women 
seldom  do. 

Since  few  geisha  speak  English,  and  very  few 
Americans  speak  Japanese,  we  travellers  from  abroad 
are  rather  outsiders  with  the  geisha,  and  our  ap- 
preciation of  them  must  be  largely  ocular.  But  a 
geisha  can  come  as  near  to  carrying  on  a  wordless 
conversation  as  any  woman  can.  Mine  smiled 
at  me,  filled  my  shallow  little  cup  with  warm  sake 
from  time  to  time,  and  showed  me  how  to  use  my 
chop-sticks.  I  found  the  lesson  most  agreeable, 
and  was  presently  rewarded  by  being  told,  through 
the  Japanese  friend  at  my  side,  that  for  a  beginner 
I  was  doing  very  well. 

If  you  want  to  know  what  it  is  like  to  eat  with 
chop-sticks  try  sitting  on  the  floor  and  eating  from  a 
bowl,  placed  in  front  of  you,  with  a  pair  of  pencils 
or  thick  knitting  needles.  It  is  a  dangerous  business, 
and  the  risk  is  rendered  greater  by  the  fact  that  the 
Japanese  do  not  wear  napkins  in  their  laps,  and  that 
to  soil  the  spotless  matting  is  about  the  greatest 
sin  the  barbarian  outlander  can  commit.  The 
Japanese  napkin  is  a  small  soft  towel  which  is 
brought  to  one  warm  and  damp,  in  a  little  basket. 
It  is  used  on  the  face  and  hands  as  a  wash-cloth 
and  is  then  removed. 

Presently  my  geisha  called  one  of  her  sisters  in 
the  craft  to  witness  my  progress  with  the  chop- 
sticks. The  new  arrival  was  named  Jitsuko — 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  121 

otherwise  "truthful  girl" — and  she  seemed  to  be 
quite  the  most  fashionable  of  them  all.  Her  kimono, 
with  its  dyed-out  decorations  and  its  five  ceremonial 
crests,  was  very  handsome  and  was  worn  with  great 
chic,  her  obi  was  a  gorgeous  thing  richly  patterned 
in  gold  brocade,  and  I  noticed  that  she  wore  upon 
it  a  pin  containing  a  very  fine  large  diamond — a 
most  unusual  sort  of  trinket  in  Japan.  Also  she 
wore  a  ring  containing  a  large  diamond.  Nor  was 
this  foreign  note  purely  superficial.  For,  to  my 
delight,  Jitsuko  spoke  to  me  in  English.  She  was 
one  of  Tokyo's  two  English-speaking  geisha,  and 
as  I  later  learned,  had  the  honour  of  being  nominated 
as  the  geisha  to  entertain  the  Duke  of  Connaught 
at  dinners  he  attended  at  the  tune  of  his  visit  to 
ihe  Japanese  capital. 

Jitsuko  and  the  other  geisha  talked  together  about 
me.  Then  Jitsuko  paid  me  the  compliment  of 
saying  that  they  agreed  in  thinking  that  I  looked  a 
little  bit  like  a  Japanese.  I  thanked  her,  and  re- 
turned the  compliment  in  kind,  saying  that  I  thought 
they  also  looked  like  Japanese,  and  very  pretty  ones, 
whereat  they  both  giggled. 

By  this  time  we  had  established  an  entente  so 
cordial  that  it  seemed  fitting  that  we  should  drink  to 
each  other.  Aided  by  the  gentleman  at  my  side  and 
by  Jitsuko,  I  learned  the  proper  formalities  of  this 
ceremony.  First  I  rinsed  my  sake  cup  in  a  lacquer 
bowl  provided  for  the  purpose,  then  passed  it  to 
Jitsuko.  The  preliminary  rinsing  indicated  that  she 
was  now  to  fill  the  cup  and  drink.  Had  I  passed 


122          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

It  to  her  without  rinsing,  it  would  have  meant  that 
she  was  to  refill  it  for  me — for  a  geisha  never  "plies" 
one  with  sake  but  waits  for  the  cup  to  be  passed. 
When  she  had  sipped  the  sake  she  in  turn  rinsed  the 
cup,  refilled  it,  and  handed  it  to  me  to  drink.  Thus 
the  friendly  rite  was  completed. 

I  had  heard  that  sake  was  extremely  intoxicating, 
but  that  is  not  so.  It  is  rice  wine,  almost  white  in 
colour,  and  is  served  sometimes  at  normal  temper- 
ature and  sometimes  slightly  warm.  It  is  rather 
more  like  a  pale  light  sherry  than  any  other  Oc- 
cidental beverage,  but  it  lacks  the  full  flavour  of 
sherry,  having  a  mild  and  not  unpleasant  flavour  all 
its  own.  On  the  whole  I  rather  liked  sake,  and  I 
found  myself  able  to  detect  the  difference  between 
ordinary  sake  and  sake  that  was  particularly  good. 
While  on  this  subject  I  may  add  that  liquor  of 
all  sorts  flows  freely  in  Japan.  Sake  is  the  one  alco- 
holic beverage  generally  served  with  meals  in  the 
Japanese  style,  but  at  the  European-style  luncheons 
and  dinners  I  attended  two  or  three  kinds  of  wine 
were  usually  served,  and  there  were  cocktails  before 
and  sometimes  liqueurs  afterward.  The  Japanese 
have  also  taken  up  whisky-drinking  to  some  extent. 
They  import  Scotch  whisky  and  also  make  a  bad 
imitation  Scotch  whisky  of  their  own.  But  sake 
still  reigns  supreme  as  the  national  alcoholic  drink, 
and  when  you  see  a  Japanese  intoxicated  you  may 
be  pretty  sure  that  sake — a  lot  of  sake — did  it. 

In  my  evening  strolls,  particularly  in  the  gay, 
crowded  district  of  Asakusa  Park  in  Tokyo — a 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  123 

Japanese  Coney  Island,  full  of  theatres,  motion- 
picture  houses,  animal  shows,  conjuring  exhibitions, 
teahouses,  bazaars  and  the  like,  surrounding  a  great 
Buddhist  temple — I  saw  many  intoxicated  men,  but 
I  never  came  upon  one  who  was  ugly  or  troublesome. 
Whether  because  of  some  quality  in  the  Japanese 
nature,  or  in  the  sake,  this  drink  seems  only  to 
make  gay,  talkative  and  sometimes  boisterous  those 
who  have  taken  too  much  of  it.  I  should  not  be 
surprised  if  the  Japanese  need  alcoholic  stimulants 
rather  more  than  other  races  need  them.  For  one 
thing  the  climate  of  Japan,  except  in  the  mountains, 
is  enervating;  and  for  another,  the  Japanese  nature 
is  generally  repressed,  and  sake  tends  to  liberate  it. 

I  noticed  this  at  another  entertainment  in  Tokyo 
—a  dinner  of  newspaper  editors.  Being  the  only 
foreigner  there,  and  being  enormously  interested  in 
the  problems  connected  with  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Japan,  I  launched  forth, 
telling  them  my  views  in  the  hope  of  learning  theirs. 
But  although  I  sensed  that  they  did  not  agree  with 
all  I  said,  their  responses  exhibited  only  the  sort 
of  polite  tolerance  that  a  courteous  host  will  show 
a  somewhat  obstreperous  guest.  For  some  time 
I  felt  that  I  had  acted  like  a  bad  boy  at  a  party. 
But  after  the  geisha  had  filled  our  cups  with  sake 
more  than  once,  I  got  what  I  was  looking  for — an 
argument.  It  was  a  polite  argument,  but  we  had 
become  friendly  enough  to  speak  frankly.  In  sake 
veritas. 

This  was  a  case  of  just  enough  sake,  but  so  far 


124  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

as  I  was  able  to  observe,  even  too  much  sake  pro- 
duces no  very  objectionable  results.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  young  man,  brightly  illuminated  with  this 
beverage,  who  came  up  to  me  one  evening  on  the 
street,  in  a  small  town.  He  was  full  of  a  desire  to 
practise  English  on  me  and  to  help  me.  He  didn't 
care  what  he  helped  me  to  do.  He  would  help  me 
to  buy  whatever  I  wanted  to  buy,  go  wherever  I 
wanted  to  go,  or  stay  wherever  I  wanted  to  stay. 

I  explained  to  him  that  I  was  only  strolling  about 
while  waiting  for  a  train  and  that  it  was  now  time 
for  me  to  return  to  the  station. 

"Wait!"  he  cried.  "I  like  you.  I  am  drawn 
to  you.  I  have  been  in  America.  I  can  talk  to 
you.  We  are  friends.  Wait!"  He  looked  about 
him  hurriedly,  then  darted  into  a  near-by  shop. 

In  a  moment  he  emerged  and  came  running  toward 
me  bearing  in  his  extended  hand  a  curious-looking 
object,  resembling,  as  nearly  as  I  could  see  in  the 
dim  light,  a  somewhat  soiled  popcorn  ball.  This 
he  pressed  into  my  hand  with  a  generous  eagerness 
which  could  not  fail  to  convey  to  me  the  fact  his 
heart  went  with  the  gift. 

"  It  is  a  present.  It  is  for  you.  You  will  remem- 
ber me.  Another  kind  might  be  better,  but  you 
are  in  a  hurry." 

My  fingers  grasped  something  heavy  but  yielding 
and  glutinous.  As  I  thanked  my  new-found  friend  I 
examined  it.  It  was  a  ball  of  rice  somewhat  larger 
than  a  baseball.  Scattered  through  it  were  brown 
objects  the  precise  nature  of  which  I  was  unable  to 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  125 

determine.  I  might  very  accurately  have  told  the 
donor  that  I  was  "stuck  on"  his  present,  since 
the  mass  in  my  hand  was  held  in  form  not  merely 
by  the  cohesiveness  of  the  rice,  but  also  by  some 
substance  of  the  nature  of  molasses. 

We  parted.  I  moved  toward  the  railroad  station 
where  my  family  and  friends  were  waiting  with 
Yuki,  our  invaluable  maid.  As  I  walked  along  I 
studied  the  object.  Obviously  it  was  intended  to 
be  eaten.  Yet  there  were  other  purposes  to  which 
it  might  be  put.  It  was  a  thing  that  a  Sinn  Feiner 
would  like  to  have  in  his  hand  as  the  British  Prem- 
ier passed  by  in  a  silk  hat.  Charley  Chaplin  would 
have  known  what  to  do  with  it.  It  was  heavier 
than  a  custard  pie  and  fully  as  dramatic. 

My  first  impulse  was  to  drop  it  as  soon  as  I  could 
do  so  unobserved;  but  the  thought  occurred  to  me 
that  it  was  probably  a  Japanese  delicacy,  and  that 
Yuki  might  like  it;  wherefor  I  carried  it  to  the  sta- 
tion. 

When  I  offered  it  to  Yuki  she  looked  surprised. 
Her  refusal  was  courteous  but  determined. 

"Where  Mr.  Street  get  that?"  she  demanded. 

"A  man  gave  it  to  me.    Here,  you  take  it." 

Yuki  giggled  and  stepped  back. 

"But  what  the  man  give  it  to  Mr.  Street  for?" 

"A  present.  What's  the  matter  with  it?  Isn't 
it  good  to  eat?" 

"Yes— good  to  eat." 

"Why  don't  you  take  it,  then?" 

Giggling,  she  shook  her  head. 


126          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"But  Yuki— I  don't  understand.  What's  the 
joke?" 

Shaking  with  merriment  she  whispered  to  my  wife. 
It  developed  that  the  sake-inspired  Japanese  had 
presented  me  with  a  tidbit  specially  prepared  for 
prospective  mothers. 

All  things  considered  it  seemed  advisable  to  get 
of  it  at  once.  I  threw  it  on  the  railroad  track. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  Japanese  Meal — Other  Meals — Smoking  and  the  Duly 
on  Cigars — Japanese  Music — Geisha  Dancing — What  Is 
a  Geisha? — Their  Refinement — Autumn  Leaves — Filial  Piety 
and  Certain  Horrors  Thereof 

A  THE  luncheon  at  the  Maple  Club  was  my 
first  meal  in  the  Japanese  style  I  had  not 
realized  the  volume  of  such  a  repast.  I 
ate  too  much  of  the  first  few  courses,  and  as  a  result 
found  myself  unable  to  partake  of  the  last  two  thirds 
of  the  feast.  The  amount  of  food  was  simply 
stupendous.  I  might  have  realized  this  in  advance, 
and  governed  myself  accordingly,  had  I  looked  at 
the  menu.  But  I  failed  to  do  so  until  driven  to  it 
by  my  surprise  as  course  after  course  was  served. 
This  was  the  bill  of  fare: 

FIRST  TABLE 

Hors  d'ceuvres — Vegetables 
Soup — terrapin  with  quail  eggs  and  onions 

Baked  fish  with  sea-hedgehog  paste 
Raw  fish  with  horseradish  and  eutrema  root 

Fried  prawns  and  deep-sea  eels 

Duck,  fishs-cake  and  vegetables  in  egg  soup,  steamed 

Roast  duck  with  relishes 

When  this  much  had  been  served  the  nesans 
took  up  the  little  tables  from  in  front  of  us  and 

127 


128  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

went  trooping  out  of  the  room.  As  I  had  already 
eaten  what  amounted  to  about  three  normal  dinners, 
I  concluded  that  the  meal  was  over,  but  not  so.  In 
they  came  again  bearing  other  little  lacquered  tables 
of  the  same  pattern  as  the  first,  but  slightly  smaller; 
whereupon,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  an  entire  second 
luncheon  was  served.  The  menu  was  as  follows: 
SECOND  TABLE 

Horsd'ceuvres —  Vegetab  les 

Fish  consomme 

Grilled  eels 

Rice 

Pickled  vegetables 
Fruits 

1  am  told  that  indigestion  is  a  prevalent  ailment 
of  the  Japanese,  and  as  regards  prosperous  persons 
who  do  no  hard  physical  work  I  can  readily  be- 
lieve it.  The  toiling  coolie  is  the -only  man  in  Japan 
who  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  digest  an 
elaborate  Japanese  meal,  and  he,  of  course,  never 
gets  one,  but  subsists  almost  entirely  upon  a  diet  of 
rice  and  fish. 

Though  some  Japanese  dishes  are  found  palatable 
by  Americans  there  are  many  things  we  miss  in  the 
Japanese  cuisine.  It  lacks  variety.  Breakfast,  lunch- 
eon, and  dinner  are  composed  of  about  the  same 
dishes.  The  divers  well-cooked  vegetables  which 
form  such  an  important  part  of  our  diet  are  entirely 
absent  from  theirs,  nor  do  they  have  stewed  fruits, 
salads,  sweets,  or  the  numerous  meats  to  which  we 
are  accustomed. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  129 

Of  their  best-known  table  delicacies  it  may  be  said 
that  grilled  eels  with  rice  are  very  good;  that  the  pink 
fish,  the  flesh  of  which  is  eaten  raw,  is  pleasing  to  the 
eye  and  by  no  means  unpalatable  when  dipped  in  the 
accompanying  shoyu,  a  brown  sauce  not  unlike 
Worcestershire,  made  from  soy  beans;  that  though 
they  have  no  cream  soups,  some  of  their  soups  are 
pleasant  to  the  taste,  albeit  they  have  the  peculiarity 
of  being  either  thin  and  watery  on  the  one  hand,  or 
of  the  consistency  of  custard  on  the  other;  that 
bamboo  shoots  are  rather  tough,  lily  roots  sweet 
and  succulent,  and  quail  eggs  delicious.  The 
Japanese,  by  the  way,  domesticate  the  quail  for  its 
eggs,  regard  the  cow  not  as  a  milch  animal  but  as  a 
beast  of  burden,  and  cultivate  the  cherry  tree  not  for 
its  fruit  but  for  its  flower. 

The  diet  of  ancient  Japan  was  even  less  varied  than 
that  of  to-day,  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago 
the  Japanese  became  vegetarians,  and  for  some  cen- 
turies thereafter  adhered  scrupulously  to  the  Buddhis- 
tic injunction  against  killing  living  creatures. 
For  several  hundred  years  they  even  abjured  fish, 
but  by  degrees  they  have  fallen  away  from  the  strict 
observance  of  the  vegetarian  doctrine,  until  to-day 
a  Japanese  who  is  at  all  sophisticated  will  thoroughly 
enjoy  a  dinner  in  the  European  style,  beef  and  all. 
Indeed  many  of  those  who  have  travelled  abroad 
and  acquired  a  taste  for  foreign  cookery  make  it  a 
point  to  have  at  least  one  of  their  daily  meals  pre- 
pared in  the  foreign  fashion. 

Government   officials   or   wealthy   cosmopolitans 


130  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

who  entertain  on  a  large  scale  usually  do  so  in  the 
European  manner.  A  banquet  at  the  Imperial 
Hotel  in  Tokyo  is  much  like  a  banquet  in  New  York, 
and  one  at  the  Bankers'  Club  is  even  more  so,  except 
that  the  meal  itself  is  likely  to  be  better  than  at  our 
banquets.  To  dine  with  a  large  gathering  at  the 
Peers'  Club  is  like  dining  at  some  great  club  or 
official  residence  in  Paris;  while  as  for  the  cocktail 
hour  at  the  Tokyo  Club,  I  cannot  imagine  anything 
in  the  world  more  completely  and  delightfully 
international. 

An  important  part  of  the  equipment  for  a  meal  in 
the  pure  Japanese  style  is  a  smoker's  outfit,  consisting 
of  a  tray  on  which  stands  a  small  urn  of  live  charcoal, 
and  a  bamboo  vase  with  a  little  water  in  it — the 
former  for  lighting  the  tobacco,  the  latter  a  receptacle 
for  ashes.  The  native  smoke  is  a  tiny  pipe,  called 
a  two-and-a-half-puff  pipe,  with  a  bowl  as  small  as  a 
child's  thimble.  Finely  shredded  Japanese  tobacco 
is  smoked  in  this  pipe,  which  is  used  by  men  and 
women  alike,  and  the  constant  refilling  and  relighting 
of  it  seem  to  figure  as  a  part  of  the  pleasure  of 
smoking.  The  Japanese  smoke  cigarettes  also,  and 
cigars,  but  the  tobacco  industry  of  Japan,  like  that 
of  France,  is  a  government  monopoly,  with  the  result 
that,  as  in  France,  good  cigarettes  and  cigars  are 
difficult  to  obtain. 

A  visit  to  a  government  tobacco  factory  left  me 
with  the  impression  that,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
management,  mechanical  equipment,  and  perhaps 
also  labour  conditions,  the  plant  would  compare  not 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  131 

unfavourably  with  some  large  tobacco  manufactories 
in  our  own  Southern  States;  but  as  to  the  product 
of  this  factory,  the  best  of  which  I  sampled,  I  can 
pretend  to  no  enthusiasm.  Japanese  tobacco  goes 
well  enough  in  the  little  native  pipes,  but  it  does 
not  make  good  cigarettes  or  cigars,  and  even  the 
cigarettes  made  of  blended  tobaccos,  or  from  pure 
Virginia  or  Egyptian  leaves,  would  hardly  satisfy 
a  critical  taste.  Cigars  made  in  Japan  are  uniformly 
poor,  like  the  government-made  cigars  of  France, 
but  whereas  in  France  it  is  possible  to  buy  a  good 
imported  Havana,  I  found  none  for  sale  in  Japan. 
One  reason  for  this  is  that  the  duty  on  cigars  is 
355  per  cent.,  so  that  only  a  millionaire  can  afford 
good  Havanas. 

Whether  because  the  enormous  luncheon  at  the 
Maple  Club  left  me  in  a  stupor,  or  because  my  mind 
could  not  adjust  itself  quickly  to  appreciation  of  an 
unfamiliar  and  extremely  curious  art,  I  did  not 
find  myself  enchanted  by  the  shrill  falsetto  singing 
of  the  geisha  musicians,  or  the  strange  sounds  they 
evoked  from  the  samisen,  fife  and  drums,  as  they 
accompanied  the  dancers. 

The  native  Japanese  music,  with  its  crude  five- 
tone  scale,  is  demonstrably  inferior  to  that  of  West- 
ern peoples.  To  the  foreign  ear  it  is  unmelodious, 
even  barbarous,  and  yet  I  must  say  for  it  that  the 
more  I  heard  it  the  more  I  felt  in  it  a  kind  of  weird 
appeal — an  appeal  not  to  the  ear  but  to  the  im- 
agination. Even  now,  when  I  am  far  away  from 


132  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Japan,  a  note  or  two  struck  on  a  guitar,  a  mandolin, 
or  a  ukulele,  in  imitation  of  the  samisen,  conjures 
up  vivid  pictures  in  my  mind.  I  see  a  narrow  geisha 
street,  with  a  musician  seated  in  an  upper  window, 
or  I  get  a  vision  of  a  geisha  dancer  arrayed  in  brilliant 
silks,  posturing,  fan  in  hand,  against  a  background 
of  gold  screens,  in  the  exquisitely  chaste  simplicity 
of  a  Japanese  teahouse  room.  The  sound  that 
evokes  the  picture  is  not  harmonious,  but  the  picture 
itself  is  harmonious  beyond  expression. 

One  thing  that  sometimes  makes  the  stranger  in 
Japan  slow  to  appreciate  the  dancing  of  geisha,  is 
the  very  fact  that  it  is  called  dancing;  for  the  term 
suggests  to  us  a  picture  of  Pavlowa  poised  like  a 
swiftly  flying  bird,  or  Genee  looking  like  a  bisque 
doll  and  spinning  on  one  toe.  Dancing,  to  us, 
means,  first  of  all,  rhythm.  We  look  for  rhythm 
in  a  geisha  dance,  and  failing  to  find  it — at  least  in 
the  sense  in  which  we  understand  the  meaning  of 
the  word — we  are  baffled.  It  is  only  one  more  case 
of  preconception  as  a  barrier  to  just  appreciation. 

Many  travellers,  and  at  least  one  author  who  has 
written  a  book  on  Japan,  have  made  the  mistake 
of  confusing  geisha  with  prostitutes.  This  is  a 
gigantic  error.  The  error  is  kept  alive  by  ricksha 
coolies  who,  understanding  that  it  is  a  common 
mistake  of  foreigners,  often  use  the  term  "geisha 
house"  as  meaning  an  establishment  of  altogether 
different  character.  A  geisha  house  is  in  fact  simply 
a  house  in  which  geisha  live  under  the  charge  of  the 
master  or  mistress  to  whom  they  are  bound  by 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  133 

contract  or  indenture.  Geisha  are  booked  through 
exchanges  and  meet  their  patrons  at  restaurants 
or  teahouses.  When  not  on  duty  they  are  private 
citizens,  and  it  would  be  considered  the  height  of 
vulgarity  for  a  man  to  call  upon  a  geisha  at  the  geisha 
house,  however  innocent  the  purpose  of  his  call. 

A  further  reason  for  the  erroneous  idea  of  what  a 
geisha  is,  lies  in  the  fact  that  Western  civilization 
has  no  equivalent  class.  Geisha  correspond  more 
nearly  to  cabaret  entertainers  than  to  any  other 
class  we  have,  yet  even  here  there  is  no  real  parallel. 
It  is  not  customary  in  Japan — except  in  foreign- 
style  hotels — to  dine  in  public.  If  a  man  be  alone 
in  a  hotel  he  dines  by  himself  in  his  room,  save 
that  the  little  nesans  who  serve  him  will  try  to  make 
themselves  agreeable  and  that  the  proprietor  may 
do  the  same.  Or  if  a  man  gives  a  luncheon  or  a 
dinner  party  at  a  restaurant  he  will  have  a  private 
room.  Therefore,  under  the  Japanese  system,  there 
is  never  a  general  assemblage  of  persons,  strangers 
to  one  another,  who  may  be  entertained  as  a  body 
while  they  are  dining.  Thus  the  geisha  is  a  private 
entertainer,  and  in  order  that  the  most  desirable 
geisha  may  be  secured  it  is  customary  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  a  luncheon  or  dinner  several  days 
in  advance.  This  is  usually  done  through  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  restaurant,  who  is  told  the  names  of  the 
geisha  the  host  desires  to  summon,  and  who  notifies 
them  through  the  local  geisha  exchange. 

Men  who  frequently  lunch  and  dine  out  naturally 
become  acquainted  with  many  geisha,  and  have  their 


134  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

preferences;  and  if  a  host  knows  that  one  of  his 
guests  particularly  likes  a  certain  geisha  he  will 
generally  try  to  arrange  to  have  her  at  his  party. 

There  are  three  classes  of  geisha.  Those  of  the 
best  class  frequently  have  good  incomes.  They  are 
often  given  large  presents  by  their  wealthy  patrons, 
and  many  of  them  are  the  mistresses  of  men  of  means, 
who  sometimes  take  them  off  on  week-end  outings 
and  spend  a  great  deal  of  money  on  them. 

However  this  may  be,  a  geisha  of  the  first  class 
is  a  creature  of  exquisite  refinement  of  manner,  and 
there  is  about  her  not  the  faintest  suggestion  of 
coarseness.  She  will  be  friendly,  even  pleasantly 
familiar,  but  never,  in  public,  is  she  guilty  of  the 
slightest  impropriety.  I  have  been  to  many  gay 
parties  in  Japan,  but  I  have  never  seen  a  geisha  or 
her  patron  behave  in  a  way  that  would  shock  the 
most  fastidious  American  lady.  Naturally  the 
situation  is  somewhat  different  among  low-class 
Japanese  and  the  geisha  they  patronize.  There 
are  vulgar  geisha  to  entertain  vulgar  men.  But 
even  a  low-class  geisha,  if  sent  for  in  an  emergency 
to  entertain  a  man  of  taste,  will  often  be  sufficiently 
clever  to  adjust  herself  to  the  situation. 

During  the  meal  the  geisha  will  sit  before  or  beside 
the  gentleman  she  is  designated  to  entertain,  chatting 
with  him,  amusing  him  and  serving  him  with  sake. 
Afterward  she  will  join  the  other  geisha  in  giving 
an  entertainment,  the  part  she  takes  in  this  depend- 
ing upon  her  special  talent,  which  may  be  for  singing, 
playing,  or  dancing.  Pretty  young  geisha  are  most 


Jktfw 
I 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  135 

often  dancers,  while  those  who  are  older  are  generally 
musicians.  Also  there  are  some  geisha  who  are 
merely  bright  and  pleasing  and  who  succeed  without 
other  accomplishments.  The  host,  making  up  a 
party,  selects  his  geisha  with  these  various  require- 
ments in  mind,  so  that  his  whole  company  of  geisha 
will  be  well  balanced. 

Foreigners  are  generally  most  taken  with  the 
little  dancing  girls,  or  maiko,  who  are  mere  children, 
and  who  with  their  sweet,  bright,  happy  little  faces, 
and  their  bewitchingly  brilliant  flowered-silk  cos- 
tumes, are  altogether  fascinating.  Once  at  a  party 
in  a  great  house  in  Tokyo  I  saw  a  score  of  these 
little  creatures  scampering  down  a  broad  flight  of 
stairs,  making  a  picture  that  was  like  nothing  so 
much  as  a  mass  of  autumn  leaves  blown  by  a  high 
wind. 

These  children  are  in  effect  apprentices  who  are 
being  schooled  in  the  geisha's  arts.  Often  they  are 
in  this  occupation  because  their  parents  have  sold 
them  into  it  as  a  means  of  raising  money.  With 
the  older  geisha  it  is  frequently  the  same.  The 
Japanese  teaching  of  filial  piety  makes  it  incumbent 
upon  a  daughter  to  become  a  geisha,  or  even  a  prosti- 
tute, to  relieve  the  financial  distress  of  her  parents. 
In  either  case  she  goes  under  contract  for  a  term  of 
years — usually  three. 

A  girl  who  is  refined,  pretty,  and  talented  can 
raise  a  sum  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  thousand 
dollars  by  becoming  a  geisha,  but  if  she  is  not  suffi- 
ciently talented  or  attractive  to  be  a  geisha,  her  next 


136  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

resource  is  the  "nightless  city."  The  opening  to 
women  of  professional  and  commercial  opportunities 
should  tend  to  improve  this  situation. 

I  am  told  that  geisha  and  the  little  dancing  girls 
are  generally  kindly  treated  by  the  geisha-masters, 
and  the  gaiety  they  exhibit  leads  me  to  conclude 
that  this  is  true.  The  little  dancers,  in  particular, 
want  but  slight  encouragement  to  become  as  playful 
as  kittens. 


CHAPTER    XII 

/  Entertain  at  a  Teahouse — Folk  Dances — The  Sense  of 
Form — The  Organization  of  Society — Jitsuko  Helps  me  Give 
a  Party — Pretty  Kokinoyou — Geisha  Games — Rivalries  of 
Geisha — The  Cherry  Dance  at  Kyoto — Theatre  Settings — 
Unmercenary  Geisha — Teahouse  Romances — Restaurants, 
Cheap  and  Costly — Reflections  on  Reform 

"  Tis  pleasing  to  be  schooled  in  a  strange  tongue 
By  foreign  lips  and  eyes.     .    ." 

— Byron 

THE  way  to  see  geisha  and  maiko  to  the 
best  advantage  is  at  small  parties  where  the 
guests  are  well  acquainted  and  formality  can 
be  to  some  extent  cast  off.     I  was  much  pleased 
when  I  learned  enough  of  the  ways  of  teahouses 
and  geisha  to  be  able  to  give  such  a  party. 

My  first  essay  as  host  at  a  Japanese  dinner  was 
not,  however,  entirely  independent,  since  I  had 
the  help  of  a  Japanese  friend.  It  occurred  at  the 
charming  Maruya  teahouse,  in  the  ancient  town  of 
Nara. 

It  was  at  the  Maruya  that  I  first  began  to  feel 
some  real  understanding  and  appreciation  of  geisha 
dancing,  and  I  think  the  thing  that  assisted  me  most 
was  the  fact  that  the  little  maiko  executed  several 
Japanese  folk  dances,  the  action  of  which,  unlike 

137 


138  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

that  of  most  geisha  dances,  was  to  a  large  extent 
self-explanatory.  One  of  these  dances  represented 
clam-digging.  In  it  the  dancers  held  small  trays 
which  in  pantomine  they  used  as  shovels,  going 
through  the  motion  of  digging  the  clams  out  of  the 
sand  and  throwing  them  into  a  basket.  The  dance 
was  accompanied  by  a  song,  as  was  also  another 
folk  dance  in  which  two  of  the  maiko  enacted  the 
roles  of  lovers  who  were  obliged  to  part  because  the 
mother  of  the  girl  was  forcing  her  to  marry  a  rich 
man.  I  was  interested  to  notice  in  this  dance  that 
the  gesture  to  indicate  weeping — the  holding  of 
one  hand  in  front  of  the  eyes  at  a  distance  of  two  or 
three  inches  from  them — is  not  taken  from  life,  but  is 
copied  from  the  gesture  of  dolls  in  the  marionette 
theatre.  That  is  the  gesture  for  a  man.  When  a 
woman  weeps  she  holds  her  sleeve-tab  before  her 
eyes,  for  it  is  a  tradition  that  women  dry  their  tears 
with  their  sleeves.  When  in  Japanese  poetry  moist 
sleeves  are  spoken  of,  the  figure  of  speech  signifies 
that  a  woman  has  been  weeping. 

The  girls  who  executed  the  last-mentioned  folk 
dance  were  respectively  thirteen  and  fifteen  years 
old,  and  they  were  evidently  much  amused  by  the 
passionate  utterances  they  were  obliged  to  deliver. 
The  one  who  played  the  part  of  the  youth — a  fetching 
little  creature  with  a  roguish  face — was  unable  at 
times  to  restrain  her  mirth  as  she  recited  the  tragic 
and  romantic  lines,  and  her  rendition  of  them  was 
punctuated  by  little  explosions  of  giggling,  which 
though  they  cannot  be  said  to  have  heightened  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  139 

dramatic  effect  of  the  sad  story,  her  audience  found 
most  contagious.  Then  with  a  great  effort  she 
would  pull  herself  together  and  try  to  live  down  the 
mirthful  outburst,  lowering  her  voice,  to  imitate 
that  of  a  man,  and  assuming  a  tragic  demeanor 
which,  in  a  creature  so  sweet  and  childish,  habited 
in  silken  robes  that  made  her  like  a  butterfly,  was 
even  more  amusing. 

People  who  follow  the  arts,  or  have  a  feeling  for 
them,  seldom  fail  to  appreciate  geisha  dancing  after 
they  have  seen  enough  of  it  to  get  an  understanding  of 
what  it  is.  This,  I  think,  is  because  they  generally 
have  a  sense  of  form,  and  as  geisha  dancing  is  a  sort 
of  animated  tableau  vivant,  a  sense  of  form  is  the 
one  thing  most  essential  to  an  appreciation  of  it. 

Indeed  I  will  go  further  and  proclaim  my  belief 
that,  to  a  visitor  who  would  really  understand 
Japan,  a  sense  of  form  is  a  vital  necessity. 

Japan  is  all  form.  In  Japanese  art  even  colour 
takes  second  place.  Nor  does  the  Japanese  feeling 
for  form  by  any  means  stop  where  art  ends.  It 
permeates  the  entire  fabric  of  Japanese  life.  The 
formal  courtesy  of  old  French  society  was  as  nothing 
to  the  formal  courtesy  of  the  Japanese.  The  whole 
life  of  the  average  Japanese  is  so  regulated  by  form 
that  his  existence  seems  to  progress  according  to  a 
sort  of  geometrical  pattern.  The  very  nation 
itself  is  organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  suggest  a 
compact  artistic  composition.  Not  only  every  class, 
but  every  family  and  individual  has  an  exact  place 
in  the  structure.  A  friend  of  mine  who  knows  Japan 


140          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

as  but  few  foreigners  do,  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  shades  of  difference  between  individuals  are 
so  finely  drawn  that  no  two  persons  in  Japan  are 
of  exactly  the  same  social  rank,  and  that  the  precise 
position  of  every  man  in  the  country  can  be  estab- 
lished according  to  the  codes  of  Japanese  formalism. 
Though  this  may  be  an  exaggeration  it  expresses 
what  I  believe  to  be  essentially  a  truth.  I  visualize 
the  social  and  political  structure  of  Japan  as  a 
great  pyramid  in  which  the  blocks  are  families. 
At  the  bottom  are  the  submerged  classes — among 
them,  down  in  the  mud  of  the  foundation,  the  eta 
or  pariah  class.  Then  come  layers  of  families 
representing  the  voteless  masses,  among  which  the 
merchant  class  was  in  feudal  times  considered  the 
lowest.  Next  come  the  little  taxpayers  who  vote, 
and  these  pile  up  and  up  to  the  place  where  the 
more  exalted  classes  are  superimposed  upon  them 
—for  in  Japan  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  practically 
no  middle  class.  I  am  told  that  there  are  now 
about  a  million  families  who  are  descended  from 
samurai.  This  is  where  the  aristocracy  begins. 
So  the  pyramid  ascends.  Layers  of  lower  officials; 
layers  of  higher  officials,  layers  of  ex-officials,  high 
and  low;  layers  of  those  having  decorations  from 
the  Government;  layers  of  army  and  navy  families, 
and  so  on  to  where,  very  near  the  summit,  are  placed 
the  Genro,  or  elder  statesmen.  Above  them  is  a 
massive  block  representing  the  Imperial  Family, 
and  at  the  very  peak,  is  the  Emperor,  Head  of  all 
Heads  of  Families. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  141 

My  party  in  Nara  having  given  me  confidence, 
I  gave  a  luncheon  at  the  delightful  Kanetanaka 
teahouse  which  overlooks  a  canal  in  the  Kyobashi 
district  of  Tokyo. 

I  cannot  claim  much  credit  for  the  fact  that  this 
party  was  a  success,  since  Jitsuko,  the  English  speak- 
ing geisha  I  met  at  my  first  Japanese  luncheon,  was 
there  to  help  me.  Jitsuko's  English,  I  must  own, 
was  not  perfect.  Nor  would  I  have  had  it  so,  for 
I  enjoyed  teaching  her,  and  learning  from  her. 

"Naughty  boy!"  was  one  expression  that  I  taught 
her,  and  I  showed  her  how  to  accompany  the  phrase 
with  an  admonitory  shake  of  the  finger,  with  results 
which  altogether  charmed  the  American  gentlemen 
at  my  luncheon. 

One  of  these  gentlemen,  a  new  arrival  in  Japan 
and  consequently  entirely  unfamiliar  with  Japanese 
fare,  asked  Jitsuko  about  a  certain  dish  that  was 
set  before  him. 

"What  is  this?"  he  demanded,  looking  at  it 
doubtfully. 

"That  fried  ears,"  said  Jitsuko. 

"  Fried  ears  I "  he  cried.     "  Not  really  ?  " 

"Yes." 

But  it  was  not  fried  ears.  Jitsuko  had  the  usual 
trouble  with  her  Fs  and  r's.  She  had  meant  to  say 
"fried  eels." 

Besides  Jitsuko  I  had  at  my  luncheon  six  of  the 
lovely  little  maiko.  One  of  them,  an  intelligent  child 
called  Shinobu — "tiptoes" — was  picking  up  a  little 
English.  She  sent  for  ink  and  a  brush  and  wrote 


142  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

out  for  me  the  names  of  her  companions.  Later 
I  had  the  names  translated,  getting  the  meaning 
of  them  in  English — for  geisha  generally  take  fanci- 
ful names.  They  were:  Kokinoyou — "little  al- 
ligator"*; Akika — "scent  of  autumn";  Komon— 
"little  gate";  Shintama  —"new  ball";  and  Kimi- 
chiyo,  whose  name  was  not  translated  for  me,  but 
who  was  the  prettiest  little  dancing  girl  I  saw  in  all 
Japan. 

Though  the  Japanese  idea  of  female  loveliness 
does  not  generally  accord  with  ours,  I  think  Kimi- 
chiyo  was  an  exception  and  was  as  lovely  in  native 
eyes  as  in  those  of  an  American,  for  she  seemed  very 
popular,  and  was  at  almost  every  Japanese-style 
party  I  attended  in  Tokyo.  Moreover,  though  she 
could  not  have  been  older  than  sixteen,  she  carried 
herself  with  the  placid  confidence  of  an  established 
belle.  I  have  met  many  a  lady  twice  or  three  times 
her  age  who  had  not  her  aplomb. 

After  luncheon  the  maiko  danced  for  us  while 
Jitsuko  and  another  geisha  played.  Then,  as  my 
guest  of  honour  had  not  yet  acquired  a  taste  for 
geisha  dancing,  the  programme  was  changed  and 
Jitsuko  set  the  little  maiko  to  playing  games.  First 
they  showed  us  how  to  play  their  great  game  of 
ken,  but  though  we  learned  it  we  could  not  compete 
with  them  in  playing  it.  They  were  too  quick 


*"What  a  queer  name!"  a  Japanese  friend  writes  me.  And  he 
adds:  "Your  translation  cannot  be  right.  A  little  alligator  might  be 
taken  for  a  mascot  in  America,  but  it  could  never  be  the  name  of  a 
dainty  little  geisha. " 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  143 

for  us.  We  pitched  quoits  with  them — and  were 
beaten.  We  played  bottle-and-cup — and  were 
beaten.  And  finally  they  introduced  us  to  a  Japan- 
ese version  of  "Going  to  Jerusalem,"  which  they 
play  with  cushions  instead  of  chairs,  with  the 
samisen  for  music.  Of  course  they  beat  us  at  that. 
Who  can  sink  down  upon  a  cushion  with  the  agility 
of  a  little  Japanese  girl?  All  in  all,  the  Americans 
were  beaten  at  every  point — and  thoroughly  en- 
joyed the  beating. 

I  could  tell  a  story  about  the  president  of  one 
of  the  greatest  corporations  in  America.  He  was 
at  my  luncheon.  He  is  a  very  dignified  and  formida- 
ble man,  and  is  considered  able.  But  he  can't  play 
ken  worth  a  cent.  Kimi-chiyo  herself  said  so.  She 
told  Jitsuko  and  Jitsuko  told  me. 

"In  America  he  is  a  great  man,"  I  said. 

"He  is  very  slow  at  ken,"  Kimi-chiyo  insisted, 
unimpressed. 

"In  business  he  is  not  slow,"  I  told  her. 

"Perhaps.  But  any  one  who  is  really  clever  will 
be  quick  at  ken." 

I  decided  to  avoid  the  game  of  ken  in  future.  It 
shows  one  up. 

Between  the  geisha  of  the  various  great  cities 
there  exists  a  gentle  rivalry.  Kyoto,  for  example, 
concedes  a  certain  vivacity  to  the  geisha  of  the 
five  or  six  leading  districts  of  Tokyo,  but  it  insists 
that  the  Kyoto  geisha  have  unrivalled  complexions, 
and  that  the  famous  Gion  geisha  of  Kyoto  are  more 


144  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

perfect  in  their  grace  and  charm  than  any  others  in 
Japan.  This  they  account  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
Gion  geisha  have  a  long  and  distinguished  history, 
and  that  there  is  a  geisha  school  in  Kyoto,  whereas 
the  Tokyo  geisha  have  no  school  but  are  trained  by 
older  geisha  under  the  supervision  of  the  master  of 
the  individual  geisha-house  to  which  they  are  at- 
tached. Similarly  the  Tokyo  geisha  consider  those 
of  Kyoto  rather  "slow,"  and  regard  the  Yokohama 
geisha  as  distinctly  inferior.  Once  I  asked  a  Tokyo 
geisha  to  give  a  dance  of  which  I  had  heard,  but 
she  replied  with  something  like  a  shrug  that  the 
dance  in  question  was  given  by  the  Yokohama 
geisha,  wherefore,  she  and  her  associates  did  not 
perform  it. 

So  far  as  I  know  there  is  not  to  be  seen  in  Tokyo 
or  Yokohama  any  large  geisha  show,  resembling 
a  theatrical  entertainment,  such  as  one  may  see  in 
Kyoto  in  cherry-blossom  season,  or  at  the  Embujo 
Theatre  in  Osaka  every  May.  These  exhibitions 
are  delightful  things  to  see,  the  Cherry  Dance  of 
Kyoto,  in  particular,  being  famous  throughout 
Japan.  The  buildings  in  which  they  are  held  are 
impressive.  The  one  in  Kyoto  was  built  especially 
for  the  Cherry  Dance,  and  the  interior  of  it,  while 
in  a  general  way  like  a  large  theatre,  is  modelled  after 
the  style  of  an  old  Japanese  palace.  The  geisha 
dancers  and  musicians  are  splendidly  trained  and 
the  costumes  are  magnificent. 

Rapid  changes  of  scene  are  made  in  these  theatres 
by  means  unfamiliar  to  American  theatre-goers. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  145 

As  in  our  playhouses,  flies  and  drops  are  sometimes 
hoisted  upward  when  a  scene  is  being  changed,  but 
quite  as  frequently  they  sink  down  through  slots  in 
the  stage  floor.  Also,  in  the  dimness  of  a  "dark 
change"  one  sees  whole  settings  going  through 
extraordinary  contortions,  folding  up  in  ways 
unknown  in  our  theatres,  or  turning  inside-out, 
or  upside-down.  One  feels  that  their  stage  is 
generally  equipped  with  less  perfect  mechanical 
and  lighting  devices  than  ours,  but  that  a  great 
deal  of  ingenuity  is  shown  in  the  actual  building 
of  scenery.  One  of  the  most  astonishing  things  I 
ever  saw  in  any  theatre  was  the  sudden  disap- 
pearance of  a  back-drop  at  the  Embujo  in  Osaka. 
The  bottom  of  this  drop  began  all  at  once  to  contract; 
then  the  whole  funnel-shaped  mass  shot  down 
through  a  small  aperture  in  the  floor,  like  a  silk 
handkerchief  passing  swiftly  through  a  ring. 

The  most  perfect  illusion  of  depth  and  distance 
I  ever  saw  on  a  stage  was  in  one  scene  of  the  Kyoto 
Cherry  Dance.  From  the  front  of  the  house  the 
scene  appeared  to  go  back  and  back  incredibly. 
Nor  could  I  make  out  where  the  back-drop  met  the 
stage,  so  skilfully  was  the  painted  picture  blended 
with  the  built-up  scenery.  When  the  performance 
was  over  I  inspected  this  setting  and  found  that  the 
scenic  artist  had  achieved  his  result  by  a  most  ela- 
borately complete  contraction  of  the  lines  of  per- 
spective, not  only  in  the  painted  scenery  but  in 
objects  on  the  stage.  A  row  of  tables  running  from 
the  footlights  to  the  rear  of  the  stage  had  been 


146  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

built  in  diminishing  scale,  and  rows  of  Japanese 
lanterns,  apparently  exactly  alike,  became  in  reality 
smaller  and  smaller  as  they  reached  back  from  the 
proscenium,  so  that  the  whole  perspective  was  ex- 
aggerated. The  stage  of  this  theatre  was  not  in 
fact  so  deep  as  that  of  the  New  York  Hippodrome 
or  the  Century  Theatre. 

At  the  geisha  dance  in  Osaka  I  asked  what  pay 
the  hundred  or  more  geisha  musicians  and  dancers 
received,  and  was  told  that  they  are  not  paid  at  all. 
There  are  two  reasons  for  this.  First,  it  is  regarded 
as  the  duty  of  all  geisha  to  celebrate  the  spring  with 
music  and  dancing;  and  second,  they  consider  it  an 
honour  to  be  selected  for  these  festivals,  since  only  the 
most  skilful  members  of  their  sisterhood  are  chosen. 

Geisha,  you  see,  are  not  entirely  mercenary. 
When  two  or  three  of  them  go  off  for  a  little  outing 
together,  or  when  they  shop,  they  spend  money 
freely;  and  there  are  stories  of  geisha  who  pay  their 
own  fees  in  order  to  meet  their  impecunious  lovers 
at  teahouses. 

In  Japanese  romances  the  geisha  is  a  favourite 
figure.  A  popular  theme  for  stories  concerning  her 
is  that  of  her  love  affair  with  a  student  whose  family 
disown  him  because  of  his  infatuation.  The  geisha 
sweetheart  then  supports  him  while  he  completes 
his  education.  He  graduates  brilliantly,  securing 
an  important  appointment  under  the  government, 
and  rewards  the  girl's  devotion  by  making  her  his 
bride.  Or  if  the  story  be  tragic — and  the  Japanese 
have  a  strong  taste  for  tragedy — the  student's 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  147 

family  is  endeavouring  to  force  him  into  a  brilliant 
match,  wherefore  the  self-sacrificing  geisha,  whom 
he  really  loves,  takes  her  own  life,  so  that  she  may 
not  stand  in  the  way  of  his  success. 

There  was  a  time  a  generation  or  two  ago  when 
Japanese  aristocrats  occasionally  took  geisha  for 
their  wives,  much  as  young  English  noblemen 
used  to  marry  chorus  girls.  But  those  things  have 
changed  in  Japan  and  it  is  a  long  time  since  a  man 
of  position  has  made  such  a  match.  The  plain 
truth  is  that,  however  justly  or  unjustly,  the  geisha 
class  is  not  respected.  They  are  victims  of  the 
curious  law  which  operates  the  world  over  to  make 
us  always  a  little  bit  contemptuous  of  those  whose 
occupation  it  is  to  amuse  us.  Moreover,  geisha 
are  not  as  a  rule  highly  educated,  and  it  is  said  that 
this  fact  makes  it  difficult  for  them  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  an  elevated  place  in  the  social  scale. 

Thus  it  comes  about  that,  when  geisha  marry, 
their  husbands  are  as  a  rule  business  men  or  mer- 
chants on  a  modest  scale. 

Yuki  our  treasured  maid,  had  a  friend  who  became 
a  geisha,  but  who  retired  from  the  profession  through 
the  matrimonial  portal. 

"She  smart  girl,"  said  Yuki.  "She  too  head  to 
be  geisha." 

"Why  did  she  become  one,  then?"  I  asked. 

"Her  family  have  great  trouble.  Her  father 
need  fifteen  hundred  yen  right  off.  Must  have. 
So  she  be  geisha.  But  after  while  she  meet  rich 
man  in  teahouse,  and  he  pay  for  her,  so  she  don't 


148  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

have  to  be  geisha  any  more,  and  they  get  married." 
Some  excellent  people  I  met  in  Japan — Americans 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  reform — objected  strongly 
to  the  geisha  system,  contending  that  it  is  a  barrier 
to  happy  domesticity.  They  felt  that  so  long  as 
there  are  geisha  in  Japan  the  average  Japanese 
husband  will  have  them  at  his  parties,  and  will 
continue  his  present  practice  of  leaving  his  wife 
at  home  when  he  goes  out  for  a  good  time.  I  sup- 
pose this  is  true.  Undoubtedly,  to  the  Japanese 
wife,  the  geisha  is  the  "other  woman."  And  as 
is  so  often  the  case  with  the  "other  woman,"  in 
whatever  land  you  find  her,  the  geisha  has  certain 
strategic  advantages  over  the  wife.  Like  good 
wives  everywhere,  the  Japanese  wife  is  concerned 
with  humdrum  things — the  children,  housekeeping, 
the  family  finances — the  things  which  often  irritate 
and  bore  a  husband  if  harped  upon.  But  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  a  husband  meets  a  geisha  are 
genial  and  gay.  Her  business  is  to  make  him  forget 
his  cares  and  enjoy  himself. 

The  expense  of  the  geisha  system  is  also  urged 
against  it.  To  dine  at  a  first-class  teahouse,  with 
geisha,  costs  as  much  as,  or  more  than,  to  dine  elab- 
orately at  the  most  expensive  New  York  hotels.  It 
is  well  for  strangers  in  Japan  to  understand  this, 
since  they  often  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Japanese  teahouse,  which  looks  so  simple — so 
delightfully  simple! — by  comparison  with  the  gold 
and  marble  grandeur  of  a  great  American  hotel 
dining  room,  must  necessarily  be  cheaper.  I  re- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  149 

member  a  case  in  which  some  Americans,  newly 
arrived  in  Tokyo,  were  entertained  in  the  native 
manner  by  a  Japanese  gentleman,  and  felt  that  they 
were  returning  the  courtesy  in  royal  style  when 
they  invited  him  to  dine  with  them  at  their  hotel. 
Yet  in  point  of  fact  then*  hotel  dinner-party  cost 
less  than  half  as  much  per  plate  as  his  Japanese 
dinner  had  cost.  While  one  does  not  value  courtesy 
by  what  it  costs,  it  is  important  not  to  undervalue 
it  on  any  basis  whatsoever. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  great  variation  in  the  cost 
of  meals  in  teahouses  and  restaurants,  and  the  fact 
that  those  which  are  inexpensive  look  exactly  like 
those  which  are  expensive  helps  to  confuse  the 
stranger.  A  great  deal  may  be  saved  if  one  does 
without  geisha.  Also  there  are  very  agreeable 
restaurants  in  which  the  guest  may  cook  his  own 
food  in  a  pan  over  a  brazier  which  is  brought  into 
the  dining  room. 

This  chafing-fish  style  of  cooking  is  said  to  have 
been  introduced  by  a  missionary  who  became  tired 
of  Japanese  food  and  formed  the  habit  of  preparing 
his  own  meals  as  he  travelled  about.  Now,  however, 
it  has  come  to  be  considered  typically  Japanese. 

There  are  two  names  for  cooking  in  this  simple 
fashion.  The  word  torinabe  is  derived  from  tori, 
a  bird,  and  nabe,  a  pot  or  kettle;  and  gyunabe  from 
a  combination  of  the  word  for  a  pot  with  gyu,  which 
means  a  cow,  or  beef.  The  Suyehiro  restaurants, 
having  three  branches  in  Tokyo,  are  famous  for 
torinabe,  as  well  as  for  an  affectation  of  elegant 


150 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 


A  bill  from  the  Kanetanaka  teahouse,  with  items  of  ¥  26.30  for 
food,  sake,  etc.,  and  ¥  27.80  for  "six  sake-servers  (geisha)  tips  to 
geisha  and  their  attendants." 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

simplicity  and  crudity  in  chinaware.  A  good  place 
for  the  gyunabe  is  the  Mikawaya  restaurant  in  the 
Yotsuya  section,  not  far  from  the  palace  of  the 
Crown  Prince. 

To  be  more  specific  about  prices,  I  gave  an  excel- 
lent luncheon  of  this  kind  for  four,  at  one  of  the 
Suyehiro  restaurants,  at  a  cost  of  about  four  dollars 
and  a  half,  whereas  a  luncheon  for  the  same  number 
of  persons,  with  geisha,  at  a  fashionable  teahouse, 
which  looked  just  about  like  the  other  restaurant, 
cost  thirty  dollars,  and  a  dinner  for  eight  with 
geisha,  came  to  fifty-three.  All  tips  are  however 
included  on  the  teahouse  bill.  One  does  not  pay 
at  the  time,  but  receives  the  bill  later,  regular  patrons 
of  a  teahouse  usually  settling  their  accounts  quarterly. 

Adversaries  of  the  geisha  system  informed  me  with 
the  air  of  imparting  scandal,  that  one  sixth  of  all 
the  money  spent  in  Japan  goes  to  geisha  and  things 
connected  with  geisha,  presumably  meaning  restaur- 
ants, teahouses,  sake  and  the  like. 

"A  reformer,"  says  Don  Marquis,  the  Sage 
of  Nassau  Street,  "is  a  dog  in  the  manger  who  won't 
sin  himself  and  won't  let  any  one  else  sin  comfort- 
ably." That  is  a  terrible  thing  to  say.  I  wouldn't 
say  such  a  thing.  It  is  always  better  in  such  cases 
to  quote  some  one  else.  But  I  will  say  this  much: 
If  I  were  a  reformer  I  should  begin  work  at  home — 
not  in  Japan.  I  should  join  the  great  movement, 
already  so  well  started,  for  making  the  United 
States  the  purest  and  dullest  country  in  the  world. 
I  should  work  with  those  who  are  attempting  to 


152  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

accomplish  this  result  entirely  by  legislation.  But 
instead  of  trying,  as  they  are  now  trying,  to  bring 
about  the  desired  end  by  means  of  quantities  of 
little  pious  laws  covering  quantities  of  little  impious 
subjects,  I  should  work  for  a  blanket  law  covering 
everything — one  great,  sweeping  law  requiring  all 
American  citizens  to  be  absolutely  pure  and  good, 
not  only  in  action  but  in  thought.  I  assume  that, 
if  such  a  law  were  passed,  everybody  would  abide 
by  it,  but  in  order  to  make  it  easier  for  them  to  do 
so  I  should  abolish  restaurants,  theatres,  motion 
pictures,  dancing,  baseball,  talking-machines,  art, 
literature,  tobacco,  candy,  and  soda-water.  I  should 
put  dictographs  in  every  home  and  have  the  police 
listen  in  on  all  conversations.  Light-heartedness 
I  should  make  a  misdemeanor,  and  frivolity  a  crime. 
Then,  when  our  whole  country  had  reached  a 
state  of  perfection  that  was  absolutely  morbid,  I 
should  consider  my  work  here  done,  and  should 
move  to  Japan.  But  I  should  not  stop  being  a 
reformer.  Assuredly  no!  I  should  start  at  once 
to  improve  things  over  there.  Take  for  instance 
this  report  that  one  sixth  of  all  the  money  spent 
goes  to  geisha  and  such  things.  I  should  try  first 
of  all  to  remedy  that  situation.  One  sixth  of  the 
national  expenditure  represents  a  vast  amount  of 
money.  Think  of  its  being  spent  on  good  times! 
Such  a  lot  of  money!  Still  it  isn't  quite  enough. 
A  quarter  or  a  third  would  be  better  than  a  sixth. 
It  would  make  things  perfect.  Not  being  a  Japan- 
ese wife,  I  should  advocate  that. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  153 

I  see  but  one  serious  objection  to  this  plan.  Should 
Japan  become  any  more  attractive  than  it  now  is, 
the  Japanese  might  feel  forced  to  pass  exclusion 
laws.  If  they  were  to  do  so  I  hope  they  would  not 
discriminate  against  people  of  any  one  race.  I 
hope  they  would  bar  out  everybody — not  Americans 
alone.  Because  if  they  were  to  bar  us  out  and  at 
the  same  time  allow  the  riffraff  of  Europe  to  come  in, 
that  might  hurt  our  feelings.  It  isn't  so  hard  to  hurt 
our  feelings,  either.  We  are  a  proud  and  sensitive 
race,  you  know.  Yes,  indeed !  It  is  largely  because 
we  are  so  proud  and  sensitive  that  we  treat  the 
Japanese  with  such  scant  courtesy.  That's  the 
way  pride  and  sensitiveness  sometimes  work.  Of 
course  the  Japanese  are  proud  and  sensitive,  too. 
But  we  can't  be  bothered  about  that.  We  haven't 
the  time.  We  are  too  busy  being  proud  and  sensi- 
tive ourselves. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

Commercialized  Vice — The  Yoshiwara — An  Establishment 
Therein— Famous  Old  Geisha— A  "Male  Geisha"— The 
Stately  Shogi— They  Show  Us  Courtesy— The  Merits  of  the 
Shogi — Kyoto's  Shimabara — The  Shogi  in  Romance — The 
Tale  of  the  Fair  Yoshino 

SOME  Americans  are  horrified  because  com- 
mercialized vice  is  officially  recognized  in 
Japan.  The  thought  is  unpleasant.  But  I 
am  by  no  means  sure  that,  since  this  form  of  vice 
does  exist  everywhere  in  the  world,  the  policy 
of  recognizing  and  regulating  it  is  not  the  best 
policy. 

The  Japanese  work,  apparently,  upon  the  theory 
that,  as  this  evil  cannot  be  stamped  out  of  existence, 
the  next  best  thing  is  to  stamp  it  as  far  as  possible 
out  of  the  public  consciousness.  This  is  done  by 
segregating  the  women  called  shogi  in  certain  speci- 
fied districts,  and  keeping  them  off  the  city  streets. 

Whatever  may  be  urged  for  or  against  this  system 
it  enables  me  to  say  of  Japan  what  I  am  not  able 
to  say  of  my  own  country  or  any  other  country 
I  have  visited:  namely,  that  in  Japan  I  never  saw  a 
street- walker. 

The  Tokyo  district  called  the  Yoshiwara  is  en- 
tered by  a  wide  road  spanned  by  an  arch.  Within, 

154  - 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  155 

the  streets  look  much  like  other  Japanese  streets, 
save  that  they  are  brightly  lighted  and  that  some 
of  the  buildings  are  large  and  rather  ornate.  First 
we  went  to  a  teahouse  of  the  Yoshiwara,  and  I  was 
readily  able  to  perceive  that  the  geisha  in  this  tea- 
house were  of  a  lower  grade  than  those  I  had  hitherto 
seen.  Their  faces  were  less  intelligent,  and  they 
lacked  the  perfect  grace  and  charm  of  their  more 
successful  sisters. 

From  the  sounds  about  us  it  was  apparent  that 
a  Yoshiwara  teahouse  is  a  place  for  drinking  and 
more  or  less  wild  merrymaking. 

Proceeding  down  the  street  from  this  teahouse 
we  passed  through  orderly  crowds  and  presently 
came  to  the  district's  most  elaborate  establishment. 
It  was  a  large  three-story  building  of  white  glazed 
brick,  with  an  inner  courtyard  containing  a  pretty 
garden.  To  enter  this  place  was  like  entering  a 
very  fine  Japanese  hotel. 

In  the  corridor  hung  a  row  of  lacquered  sticks 
each  bearing  a  number  in  the  Chinese  character. 
There  were,  I  think,  about  thirty  of  these  sticks, 
and  each  represented  a  shogi.  The  number-one 
shogi  was  the  most  sought-after;  number  two  ranked 
next,  and  so  on.  We  were  shown  by  the  proprietress 
and  some  maids  to  a  large  matted  room  on  the 
second  floor,  where  sake,  cakes  and  fruit  were  served 
to  us.  Then  there  appeared  three  geisha  of  a  most 
unusual  kind.  They  were  women  fifty-five  or 
sixty  years  of  age,  rather  large,  with  faces  genial, 
amusing,  and  respectable.  These  I  was  told  were 


156          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

geisha  with  a  great  local  reputation  for  boisterous 
wit.  My  Japanese  friends  were  thereafter  kept 
in  a  continual  state  of  mirth,  and  though  I  could 
not  understand  what  the  old  geisha  were  saying, 
their  droll  manner  was  so  infectious  that  I,  too,  was 
amused.  Presently  they  were  joined  by  a  man  with 
the  face  of  a  comedian.  He  was  described  to  me  as 
a  "male  geisha."  That  is,  he  was  an  entertainer. 
He  sang,  told  comic  stories  and  showed  real  ability 
as  a  mimic. 

This  entertainment  lasted  for  the  better  part  of 
an  hour.  Then  the  mistress  of  the  house  came  in 
with  the  air  of  one  having  something  important 
to  reveal.  At  a  word  from  her  the  entertainers 
drew  back  and  seated  themselves  on  cushions  at  one 
side  of  the  room.  There  was  an  impressive  silence. 
Slowly,  a  sliding  screen  door  of  black  lacquer  and 
gold  paper  slirjped  back,  moved  by  an  unseen  hand. 
We  watched  the  open  doorway. 

Presently  appeared  the  figure  of  a  woman.  She 
did  not  look  in  our  direction,  but  moved  out  into 
the  room  as  if  it  had  been  a  stage  and  she  an  actress. 
Her  step  was  slow  and  stately,  and  she  was  arrayed 
in  a  brilliant  robe  of  red  satin,  heavily  quilted, 
and  embroidered  with  large  elaborate  designs. 
This  was  the  number-one  shogi.  Her  costume  and 
bearing  were  magnificent,  but  her  face  was  expres- 
sionless and  not  at  all  beautiful. 

When  she  was  well  within  the  room  the  number- 
two  shogi,  dressed  in  the  same  style,  moved  in  behind 
her,  and  followed  with  the  same  stately  tread. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  157 

In  procession  they  walked  across  the  room,  turned 
slowly,  trailed  the  hems  of  their  wadded  kimonos 
back  across  the  matting,  and  made  an  exit  by  the 
door  at  which  they  had  entered.  Then  the  door 
slipped  shut. 

The  chatter  began  once  more,  but  after  a  few 
minutes  we  were  again  silenced.  For  the  second 
time  the  door  opened  and  the  two  women  appeared. 
They  were  now  arrayed  in  purple  kimonos,  quilted 
and  embroidered  like  the  first.  Again  they  made  a 
dignified  progress  across  the  room  and  back;  again 
they  disappeared. 

That  was  the  end  of  the  inspection.  By  now 
we  should,  in  theory,  have  been  entranced  with  one 
or  the  other  of  the  shogi  we  had  seen.  It  was  time 
to  go.  But  as  the  Japanese  gentleman  whom  I 
had  asked  to  bring  me  to  this  place  was  a  man  of 
consequence,  an  especial  courtesy  was  shown  us 
ere  we  departed.  In  ordinary  circumstances  we 
should  not  have  seen  the  two  women  again,  but  now 
they  unbent  so  far  as  to  come  in  and  kneel  upon 
the  floor  beside  us — for  we  had  checked  our  shoes 
at  the  entrance,  and  were  seated  Japanese-fashion 
upon  silk  cushions. 

My  Japanese  friends  attempted  to  chat  with  the 
shogi,  but  evidently  the  latter  did  not  shine  in  the 
arts  of  conversation.  The  talk  was  grave  and  un- 
mistakably perfunctory,  and  after  a  little  while 
the  two  arose,  bowed  profoundly,  with  a  sort  of 
grandeur,  and  trailed  their  wondrous  robes  out  of 
the  room.  It  was  like  seeing  in  the  life  a  pair  of 


158  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

courtesans  from  a  colour-print  by  Utamaro.  As 
they  went  I  wondered  whether,  in  the  beginning, 
they  had  striven  to  be  geisha  instead  of  shogi,  but 
had  been  forced  to  the  Yoshiwara  by  reason  of  their 
lack  of  talent  for  music  and  conversation. 

Before  we  left  I  was  shown  some  of  the  other 
rooms  of  this  huge  house,  including  those  of  several 
of  the  women.  The  woodwork  was  like  light  brown 
satin  and  the  matting  glistened  almost  as  though 
it  were  lacquered.  There  were  some  kakemono 
and  fine  painted  screens  with  old-gold  backgrounds, 
and  in  the  women's  rooms  were  cabinets  and  dressing- 
stands  lacquered  red  and  gold.  The  dressing-stands 
were  of  a  height  to  suit  one  squatting  on  the  floor. 
It  was  as  though  the  top  section  of  one  of  our  dressing 
tables  were  set  upon  the  floor — a  mirror  with  small 
drawers  at  either  side. 

The  mistress  and  her  maids  accompanied  us  to 
the  street  door  when  we  departed.  They  made 
profound  obeisances,  and  the  mistress  declared  her 
appreciation  of  the  great  honour  we  had  paid  her 
by  visiting  her  establishment.  My  Japanese  friends 
replied  in  kind.  The  whole  affair  was  conducted 
with  a  fine  sense  of  ceremony. 

As  for  the  three  elderly  geisha,  they  took  another 
way  of  complimenting  us.  Instead  of  making 
ceremonious  speeches  they  continued  to  be  gay 
and  amusing,  but  they  did  something  which,  when 
geisha  do  it,  is  considered  a  mark  of  high  respect. 
They  left  the  place  with  us,  accompanying  us  as  far 
as  the  gate  of  the  Yoshiwara.  One  of  them,  a 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  159 

jolly  old  creature,  with  a  fine,  strong  humorous 
face,  linked  arms  with  me  as  we  walked  along,  and 
conversed  with  me  in  English.  Perhaps  the  word 
"conversed"  implies  too  much.  Her  entire  English 
vocabulary  consisted  of  the  words:  "All  right," 
but  she  repeated  the  expression  frequently  and  with 
changing  intonations  which  gave  a  sort  of  variety. 

It  was  a  strange  evening,  and  the  strangest  part 
of  it  was  the  absence  of  vulgarity.  I  had  seen  nothing 
that  the  most  fastidious  woman  could  not  have 
seen. 

As  to  what  treatment  is  accorded  the  shogi  them- 
selves I  cannot  say.  Certainly  they  did  not  have 
the  air  of  being  happy.  Almost  all  of  them  are 
there  because  of  poverty,  and  it  is  said  that  all  live 
in  the  hope  that  some  man  will  become  fond  of  them 
and  buy  them  out  of  the  life  of  the  joroya.  This  I 
believe  occasionally  happens.  It  should  be  added 
that,  under  the  Japanese  law,  contracts  by  which 
women  sell  themselves,  or  are  sold  by  others  into 
this  life,  are  not  valid.  It  may  further  be  added 
that  all  authorities  on  Japan  seem  to  be  in  accord 
with  Chamberlain  who  says  that  "the  fallen  women 
of  Japan  are,  as  a  class,  much  less  vicious  than 
their  representatives  in  Western  lands,  being  neither 
drunken  nor  foul-mouthed."  They  also  have  a 
high  reputation  for  honesty. 

The  name  Yoshiwara  is  not  a  generic  term, 
though  strangers  sometimes  use  it  as  if  it  were, 
speaking  of  "a  Yoshiwara."  Similar  districts  in 
other  cities  are  known  by  other  names — as,  for 


160  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

example,  the  historic  Shimabara,  in  Kyoto,  which 
dates  back  about  four  centuries. 

Like  the  Yoshiwara,  the  Shimabara  has  been 
moved  from  time  to  time,  with  a  view  to  keeping 
it  away  from  the  heart  of  the  city.  History  records 
that  Hideyoshi  caused  the  district  to  be  uprooted 
and  transplanted,  and  leyasu,  the  first  Tokugowa 
shogun,  did  the  same,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  too 
near  the  palace  and  the  business  centre. 

I  find  some  odd  items  in  a  book  giving  the  history  of 
the  Shimabara.  It  is  said  that  in  the  old  days  only 
ronin — samurai  acknowledging  no  overlord — were 
given  charters  to  operate  resorts  in  the  Shimabara, 
and  that  court  gentlemen  visiting  this  quarter  were 
required  to  wear  white  garments.  There  is  also 
the  story  of  a  city  official  who  used  to  meet  now 
and  then  upon  the  streets  of  Kyoto  a  beautiful 
woman  riding  in  a  palanquin.  It  was  his  custom 
to  salute  her  respectfully,  for  he  thought  her  a  court 
lady.  But  one  day,  upon  inquiry,  he  learned  that 
she  was  a  courtesan,  whereupon  he  became  indignant, 
and  caused  the  Shimabara  quarter  to  be  again  re- 
moved, placing  it  still  farther  away  from  the  city's 
heart. 

There  is  some  evidence  that  in  feudal  Japan 
the  most  admired  courtesans  were  persons  of  more 
consequence  than  those  of  to-day.  In  olden  times, 
for  example,  the  Shimabara  women  were  considered 
to  rank  above  geisha,  whereas  now  the  situation  is 
decidedly  the  reverse. 

The  stories  of  certain  famous  women  of  the  ancient 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  161 

Shimabara  are  still  remembered,  and  are  favourites 
with  writers  of  romances.  One  quaint  tale  tells 
of  a  beautiful  girl  named  Tokuko,  the  daughter  of  a 
ronin.  When  her  father  and  her  mother  died,  leaving 
her  penniless,  she  went  into  the  Shimabara.  Here, 
because  of  her  grace,  she  became  known  as  Uki-fune 
"floating  ship."  But  she  wrote  a  poem  about  the 
cherry  blossoms  at  Mt.  Yoshino,  in  Yamato  Pro- 
vince, a  place  which  for  more  than  ten  centuries  has 
been  noted  for  these  blooms,  and  her  poem  was  so 
much  admired  that  she  herself  came  to  be  called 
Yoshino. 

A  rich  man's  son  fell  in  love  with  this  girl  and 
married  her,  but  when  his  father  learned  what  had 
been  her  occupation  he  disowned  the  youth.  The 
young  couple  were  however  courageous.  In  a 
tiny  cottage  they  lived  a  happy  and  romantic  life. 

One  day  it  happened  that  the  father,  caught  in  a 
heavy  rainstorm,  asked  shelter  in  a  little  house  at 
the  roadside.  Here  he  found  a  beautiful  young 
woman  playing  exquisitely  upon  the  harp-like 
musical  instrument  called  the  koto.  She  welcomed 
him  charmingly,  made  him  comfortable,  served 
him  tea.  When  the  storm  had  passed  the  old  man 
thanked  her  for  her  hospitality  and  departed. 
But  he  had  been  so  struck  with  her  beauty  and 
grace  that  he  made  inquiries  about  her. 

"Ah,"  exclaimed  the  one  of  whom  he  asked, 
"she  is  none  other  than  Yoshino,  wife  of  your  disin- 
herited son!" 

Upon  hearing  this  the  father  relented.     He  sent 


162  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

for  the  young  couple,  took  them  to  live  in  his  own 
mansion,  and  directed  the  daughter-in-law  to  resume 
her  original  name,  Tokuko — which  means  "virtue." 

However,  I  have  noticed  that  in  Japan  and  all 
other  lands,  romantic  stories  making  heroines  of 
courtesans  have  to  be  dated  pretty  far  back.  The 
living  courtesan  is  but  rarely  regarded  as  a  romantic 
figure.  She  is  like  a  piece  of  common  glass. 

But  a  piece  of  common  glass,  buried  long  enough 
in  certain  kinds  of  soil,  acquires  iridescence.  This 
iridescence  is  not  actually  in  the  glass,  but  exists 
in  a  patine  which  gradually  adheres  to  it.  Under 
a  little  handling  it  will  flake  off. 

I  suspect  that  it  is  much  the  same  with  famous 
courtesans  the  world  over.  When,  after  having 
been  buried  for  a  hundred  years  or  so,  they  are,  so 
to  speak,  dug  up  by  novelists  and  playwrights,  there 
adheres  to  them  a  beautiful  iridescent  patine. 

It  is  best,  perhaps,  to  refrain  from  scratching 
the  patine  lest  we  find  out  what  is  really  underneath. 


It  takes  two  hours  to  do  a  geisha's  hair,  but  the  coiffure, 
once  accomplished,  lasts  several  days 


CHAPTER    XIV 

Japan  and  Italy — The  Sense  of  Beauty — Poetry — Japanese 
Poems  by  an  American  Woman — A  Poem  on  a  Kimono — 
Garden  Ornaments — Garden  Parties  and  Gifts — The  Four 
Periods  of  Landscape  Gardening — The  Volcanic  Principle 
in  Gardens 

IT  IS  interesting  to  observe  that  the  two  races 
in  which  highly  specialized  artistic  feeling  is 
almost  universal  have,  despite  their  antipodal 
positions  on  the  globe,  many  common  problems 
and  one  common  blessing.  Both  Japan  and  Italy 
are  poor  and  overpopulated,  both  are  handicapped 
by  a  shortage  of  arable  land  and  natural  resources, 
both  lack  an  adequate  supply  of  food  and  raw 
materials  for  manufacturing,  both  are  mountainous, 
both  are  afflicted  by  earthquakes;  but  both  are 
endowed  with  the  peculiar,  passionate  beauty  of 
landscape  which  is  nature's  compensation  to  volcanic 
countries — a  beauty  suggesting  that  of  some  vivid 
and  ungoverned  woman,  brilliant,  erratic,  fascinating 
dangerous. 

Where  Nature  shows  herself  a  great  temperamental 
artist,  her  children  are  likely  to  be  artists,  too. 
As  almost  all  Italians  have  a  highly  developed  sense 
of  melody,  so  almost  all  Japanese  possess  in  a  re- 
markable degree  the  artist's  sense  of  form. 

163 


164          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

One  day  in  Tokio  I  fell  to  discussing  these  matters 
with  a  venerable  art  collector,  wearing  silks  and 
sandals. 

"What,"  he  asked  me,  "are  the  most  striking 
examples  of  artistic  feeling  that  you  have  noticed  in 
Japan?" 

I  told  him  of  two  things  that  I  had  seen,  each  in 
itself  unimportant.  One  was  a  well-wheel.  The  well 
was  in  a  yard  beside  a  lovely  little  farmhouse,  one 
story  high,  with  walls  of  clay  and  timber,  and  with  a 
thick  thatched  roof,  upon  the  ridge  of  which  a  row 
of  purple  iris  grew.  There  was  a  dainty  bamboo 
fence  around  the  farmyard,  with  flowering  shrubs 
behind  it,  and  a  cherry  tree  in  blossom.  The  well- 
house  was  thatched,  and  the  pulley-wheel  beneath 
the  thatch  seemed  to  focus  the  entire  composition. 
With  us  such  a  wheel  would  have  been  a  thing 
of  rough  cast-iron,  merely  something  for  a  rope 
to  run  over;  but  this  wheel  had  been  fondly  imagined 
before  it  was  created.  Its  spokes  were  not  straight 
and  ugly,  but  branched  near  the  rim,  curving 
gracefully  into  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  the  out- 
lines of  a  cherry-blossom.  It  was  a  work  of  art. 

My  other  item  was  a  little  copper  kettle.  I  saw 
it  in  a  penitentiary.  It  belonged  to  a  prisoner,  and 
every  prisoner  in  that  portion  of  the  institution 
had  one  like  it.  The  striking  thing  about  it  was 
that  it  was  an  extremely  graceful  little  kettle, 
embellished  in  relief  with  a  beautiful  design.  It, 
too,  was  a  work  of  art,  and  there  was  to  me  something 
pathetic  in  the  evidence  it  gave  that  even  in  this 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  165 

grim  place  the  claims  of  beauty  were  not  entirely 
ignored. 

These  trifling  observations  seemed  to  please  my 
friend,  the  art  collector. 

"But,"  said  he,  "I  think  our  national  love  of  the 
beautiful  is  perhaps  most  strongly  exhibited  in  our 
feeling  for  outdoor  beauty — our  pilgrimages  to 
spots  famous  for  their  scenery,  our  delight  in  the 
cherry-blossom  season,  the  wistaria  season,  the 
chrysanthemum  season,  and  by  no  means  least  in 
our  gardens." 

Undoubtedly  he  was  right.  The  feeling  for  nature 
among  his  countrymen  is  general,  mystical,  poetic. 
Almost  all  Japanese  write  poetry.  The  poems 
of  many  emperors,  empresses,  and  statesmen  are 
widely  known;  and  among  the  most  celebrated 
Japanese  poems  those  to  Nature  in  her  various 
aspects  are  by  far  the  most  numerous. 

Let  me  here  digress  briefly  to  mention  the  interest- 
ing custom  of  0  Uta  Hajime,  or  Opening  of  Imperial 
Poems,  a  court  function  dating  from  the  ninth 
century. 

Each  December  the  Imperial  Household  announces 
subjects  for  poems  which  may  be  submitted  anony- 
mously to  the  Imperial  Bureau  of  Poems,  in  con- 
nection with  the  celebration  of  the  New  Year. 
The  poems  are  examined  by  the  bureau's  experts, 
who  select  the  best  to  be  read  to  the  Imperial  Family. 

The  choice  for  the  year  1921  was  made  from  seven- 
teen thousand  poems  sent  from  all  parts  of  the  Em- 


166  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

pire,  and  when  announcement  was  made  of  the  names 
of  those  whose  poems  were  read  at  the  Court,  it  was 
discovered  that,  among  them  was  an  American  lady, 
Frances  Hawkes  Burnett,  wife  of  Col.  Charles  Bur- 
nett, military  attache  of  the  American  Embassy  at 
Tokyo.  Mrs.  Burnett  thus  attains  the  unique  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  foreign  woman  ever  to  have 
won  Imperial  approval  with  a  poem  in  the  Japanese 
language. 

It  is  interesting,  in  this  connection,  to  remark  that 
the  lady  is  a  grand-niece  of  the  late  Dr.  Francis 
Lister  Hawkes,  of  New  York,  who  accompanied 
Commodore  Perry  to  Japan,  and  was  Perry's  colla- 
borator in  the  writing  of  the  official  record  of  the 
voyage,  published  under  the  title,  "The  Narrative 
of  the  Expedition  of  an  American  Squadron." 

But  to  return  to  my  friend  the  art  collector. 

"Speaking  of  poetry  and  the  love  of  Nature," 
said  he,  "have  you  noticed  the  kimono  of  our  host's 
daughter?" 

(We  were  strolling  in  a  lovely  private  garden  as 
we  talked.) 

I  had  noticed  it.  It  was  a  beautiful  costume  of  soft 
black  silk,  the  hem,  in  front,  adorned  with  a  design 
of  cherry-blossoms  and  an  inscription  in  the  always 
decorative  Chinese  character. 

"Do  you  know  what  the  inscription  is?"  he  asked. 

I  did  not. 

"It  is  a  poem  of  her  own,"  he  explained;  and  pres- 
ently, when  in  our  stroll  we  caught  up  with  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  167 

young  lady,  he  made  me  a  literal  translation,  which 
might  be  done  over  into  English  verse  as  follows: 

Farewell,  0  Capital!     I  grieve 
Thy  lovely  cherry-blooms  to  leave. 
But  now  to  Kioto  must  I  fare 
To  view  the  cherry-blossoms  there. 

We  fell  to  talking  of  Japanese  gardens. 

"You  must  see  some  of  our  fine  gardens,"  he 
said,  "before  you  leave  Japan." 

I  mentioned  some  I  had  already  seen — the  gardens 
of  the  Crown  Prince,  the  Prime  Minister,  Marquis 
Okuma,  Viscount  Shibusawa,  Baron  Furukawa, 
and  others. 

"But  do  you  understand  our  theory  of  the  gar- 
den?" 

I  told  him  what  little  I  then  knew:  that  flowers 
are  not  essential  to  a  garden  in  Japan;  that,  where 
used,  they  are  generally  set  apart  in  beds,  and  re- 
moved when  they  have  ceased  to  bloom;  that  because 
of  the  skill  of  the  Japanese  in  transplanting  large 
trees  a  garden  of  ancient  appearance  may  be  made 
in  few  years;  that  boundaries  are  artfully  planted 
out,  so  that  some  houses,  standing  on  a  few  acres 
of  ground  in  great  cities,  appear  to  be  surrounded 
by  forests;  that  small  garden  lakes  are  sometimes 
so  arranged  as  to  suggest  that  they  are  only  arms 
of  large  bodies  of  water  concealed  from  view  by 
wooded  headlands;  and  that  optical  illusions  are 
often  employed  to  make  gardens  seem  much  larger 
than  they  are,  tlais  being  accomplished  by  a  cunning 


168  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

scaling  down  in  the  size  of  the  more  remote  hillocks, 
trees,  and  shrubs,  increasing  the  perspective. 

Also,  I  had  seen  examples  of  the  kare  sensui  school 
of  landscape  gardening — waterless  lakes  and  streams, 
their  beds  delineated  in  sand,  gravel,  and  selected 
pebbles,  and  their  banks  set  off  by  great  water- 
worn  stones  brought  from  elsewhere,  and  by  trees 
and  shrubs  carefully  trained  to  droop  toward  the 
imaginary  water — water  the  more  completely  sug- 
gested by  stepping-stones  and  arched  bridges  reach- 
ing out  to  little  islands,  with  stone  lanterns  standing 
among  dwarf  pines. 

I  knew,  too,  of  the  fondness  of  the  Japanese  for 
minor  buildings  in  their  gardens.  Thus  in  the 
garden  of  Viscount  Shibusawa,  there  is  an  ancient 
Korean  teahouse  of  very  striking  architecture; 
in  that  of  Dr.  Takuma  Dan,  General  Manager  of 
the  vast  Mitsui  interests,  a  farmhouse  several  cen- 
turies old;  in  that  of  Baron  Okura,  a  famous  museum 
of  Chinese  and  Japanese  antiquities  and  art  works; 
and  in  the  gardens  of  Baron  Furukawa  and  Baron 
Sumitomo,  smaller  private  museums.  Tucked  away 
in  the  corner  of  one  garden  near  Kobe  I  had  even 
seen  a  little  factory  in  which  the  finest  wireless 
cloisonne  was  being  made,  the  owner  of  that  garden 
having  a  deep  interest  in  this  art  and  using  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  artist-workmen  to  give  as  presents 
to  his  friends.  And  of  course  in  many  gardens  I 
had  seen  houses  built  especially  for  the  cha-no-yu, 
or  Tea  Ceremony. 

Moreover,  I  had  been  to  garden  parties  at  some 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  169 

of  which  luncheons  were  served  under  marquees 
of  bamboo  and  striped  canvas,  while  at  others 
were  offered  entertainments  consisting  of  geisha- 
dancing  and  juggling.  At  such  parties  souvenirs 
are  always  given — fans  and  kakemono  painted  by 
artists  on  the  premises,  or  bits  of  pottery  which,  after 
being  painted,  are  glazed  and  fired,  and  still  warm 
from  the  kiln,  presented  to  the  guests. 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  my  venerable  friend,  "you 
have  seen  a  good  deal;  but  as  to  the  history  and 
theory  of  our  gardens,  what  do  you  know?" 

"Very  little,"  I  admitted,  and  asked  him  to 
enlighten  me. 

Japanese  landscape  gardening  began  twelve  hun- 
dred years  ago,  when  the  Emperor  Shomu,  in  resi- 
dence at  Nara,  sent  for  a  Chinese  monk  who  was 
famed  for  his  artistry  and  ordered  him  to  beautify 
the  ancient  capital.  This  the  monk  accomplished 
chiefly  by  cutting  out  avenues  among  the  lofty 
trees  which  to  this  day  make  Nara  not  only  a  place 
of  supreme  loveliness,  but  one  rich  in  the  aroma 
of  antiquity.  Thus  came  the  first  period  of  land- 
scape gardening  in  Nippon,  the  Tempyo  period. 

Five  and  a  half  centuries  ago  the  second  period 
began  when,  in  the  terrain  surrounding  the  Kin- 
kakuji  Temple  at  Kyoto,  gardens  containing  lakes, 
rocks,  and  gold-pavilioned  islands  were  constructed 
in  resemblance  to  the  natural  scenery  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Yangtse  River  in  China. 

The  third  period  is  best  represented  by  the  gardens 


170  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

of  the  arsenal  in  Tokyo.  These  were  made  three 
hundred  years  ago  by  a  Chinese  master  named 
Shunsui,  who  was  brought  to  Japan  for  the  purpose 
by  the  Lord  of  Mito,  brother  of  the  shogun  who  at 
that  time  ruled  Japan.  In  order  to  get  water  for 
this  park  a  canal  thirty  miles  long  was  constructed, 
and  this  same  canal  later  supplied  water  to  the  city 
of  Yedo,  as  Tokyo  was  then  called. 

The  current  period  is  the  fourth,  and  it  is  the 
aim  of  the  present-day  masters  to  combine  in  their 
work  all  the  fine  points  of  the  preceding  periods. 
This  development  is  largely  due  to  the  ease  of  modern 
transportation,  which  has  enabled  the  landscape 
gardeners  of  our  tune  to  travel  widely  and  become 
familiar  with  the  best  work  of  their  distinguished 
predecessors  and  the  finest  natural  scenery.  For 
instance,  the  Shiobara  region,  in  northern  Japan, 
a  district  famous  for  its  lovely  little  corners,  has 
been  the  inspiration  for  many  modern  gardens. 

"And  now,"  said  my  learned  friend  as  we  paused 
in  a  little  shelter  of  bamboo  and  thatch,  overlooking 
the  corner  of  a  lake  bordered  with  curiously  formed 
rocks  and  flowering  shrubs,  "I  will  tell  you  the  great 
secret  of  this  art;  for  of  course  you  understand  that 
with  us  landscape  gardening  is  definitely  placed  as 
one  of  the  fine  arts."  He  paused  for  a  moment,  then 
continued:  "The  one  sound  principle  for  making 
a  garden  wherever  water  is  used  is  what  may  be 
called  the  volcanic  principle.  That  is  to  say, 
the  artist  in  landscape  gardening  should  go  for  his 


Mrs.  Charles  Burnett  in  a  15th-Century  Japanese  Court 
costume.  Mrs.  Burnett's  poems  written  in  Japanese  have 
received  Imperial  recognition 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  171 

themes  to  places  of  volcanic  origin ;  for  in  such  places 
the  greatest  natural  beauty  is  found. 

"And  whyp  First  of  all,  you  have  hills  of  in- 
teresting contours,  made  by  eruptions.  Then  you 
have  mountain  lakes  which  form  in  the  beds  of  ex- 
tinct volcanoes.  Our  famous  Lake  Chuzenji,  above 
Nikko,  for  example.  From  these  lakes  the  water 
overflows,  making  splendid  falls,  like  those  of  Kegon, 
which  empty  out  of  Lake  Chuzenji.  Below  the 
falls  you  have  a  torrent  rushing  down  a  rocky  valley, 
like  the  River  Daiya,  which  flows  from  the  Kegon 
Falls  past  Nikko,  where  it  is  spanned  by  the  famous 
red-lacquered  bridge.  There  is  the  basis  for  your 
entire  garden  composition. 

"But  you  must  also  remember  that  volcanic 
outpourings  make  rich  soil.  This  soil,  thrown  into 
the  air  by  volcanic  explosions,  settles  in  the  crevices 
of  rocks.  Pines  take  root  in  it.  But  in  some  places 
the  pocket  of  soil  is  small;  wherefore  the  roots  of 
the  pine  cannot  spread,  and  the  tree  becomes  a 
dwarf,  gnarled  and  picturesque.  Again,  on  the 
hillsides  the  rich  soil  makes  great  trees  grow,  with 
rich  shrubbery  and  verdure  beneath  them.  The 
torrent  completes  the  landscape  effect  by  sculpturing 
the  rocks  into  fascinating  forms.  In  that  combin- 
ation you  have  every  element  required.  Reproduce 
it  in  miniature,  and  your  garden  is  made." 


CHAPTER    XV 

/  Acquire  Vanity — /  Meet  a  Wise  Man — The  Distate  for 
Boasting — Imperial  Traditions — The  First  Ambassadors 
and  Consequent  Embarrassments — Trappings  of  Rank — 
/  Display  My  Knowledge — And  Come  a  Cropper — The 
Beauties  of  Calm 

THE   garden   theory   of  my  friend   the   art 
collector,   so  Japanese  in  its  completeness, 
charmed  and  satisfied  me. 
"Now,"  I  thought  to  myself,  "I  know:9 
Thenceforward  I  looked  at  gardens  not  with  the 
unenlightened  enthusiasm  of  the  casual  amateur, 
but  with  a  critic's  eye.    Here  and  there  I  would 
make  a  mental  reservation,  saying  to  myself  that 
the  man  who  made  this  garden  had  missed  some- 
thing in  one  respect  or  another;  that  the  one  great 
principle,  the  volcanic  principle,  had  not  been  fully 
carried  out. 

So  time  went  on  until  presently  I  found  myself 
in  Kyoto,  the  cultivated  city  of  Japan,  seated  at  a 
table  (upon  which  were  glasses  and  a  bottle)  beside 
one  of  the  most  interesting  Japanese  I  had  met,  a 
man  of  ripe  age  and  experience  and  of  a  philosophical 
turn  of  mind.  He  loved  the  history,  the  legends 
and  the  psychology  of  his  native  land,  and  enjoyed 

172 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  173 

sifting  them  through  the  interpretative  screen  of 
his  own  intelligence. 

I  listened  to  him  with  eager  interest. 

"To  boast,"  said  he,  "is,  according  to  our  point 
of  view,  one  of  the  cardinal  sins.  We  so  detest 
boasting  that  we  go  to  the  other  extreme,  depreciat- 
ing anything  or  anybody  connected  with  ourselves. 
Thus,  when  some  one  says  to  me,  *  Your  brother  has 
amassed  a  fortune;  he  must  be  a  man  of  great  ability,' 
I  will  reply:  'He  is  not  so  very  able.  Perhaps  he  is 
only  lucky.'  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  happens  that 
my  brother  is  a  man  of  exceptional  ability.  But  I 
must  not  say  so;  it  is  not  good  form  for  me  to  praise 
his  qualities. 

"In  speaking  of  our  wives  and  children  we  do 
the  same.  We  say,  'my  poor  wife,'  or,  'my  insigni- 
ficant wife,'  although  she  may  fulfil  our  ideal  of 
everything  a  woman  should  be. 

"Also  the  reverse  of  this  proposition  is  true.  We 
sometimes  signify  our  disapproval  or  dislike  of  some 
one  by  speaking  of  him  in  terms  of  too  high  praise. 

"Among  ourselves  we  fully  understand  these 
things.  It  is  merely  a  code  we  follow.  But  I 
fear  that  this  practice  sometimes  causes  foreigners 
to  misunderstand  us.  Being  themselves  accus- 
tomed to  speak  literally,  they  are  inclined  to  take 
us  so.  Also,  they  are  not  likely  to  realize  that  we 
are  most  critical  of  those  for  whom  we  have  profound 
regard.  Why  should  we  waste  our  time  or  our 
critical  consideration  upon  persons  who  mean  nothing 
to  us  or  whom  we  dislike? 


174          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"Yet,  after  all,"  he  continued,  with  a  little  twinkle 
in  his  eye,  "human  nature  is  much  the  same  the 
world  over.  There  was  an  American  here  in  Kyoto 
once  who  used  to  forbid  his  wife  and  sister  to  smoke 
cigarettes,  but  I  observed  that  he  was  quick  to  pass 
Ms  cigarette-case  to  other  ladies." 

He  drifted  on  to  a  further  discussion  of  differences 
between  the  point  of  view  of  Japan  and  that  of  the 
Occident. 

"For  twenty-five  centuries,"  said  he,  "our  em- 
perors never  lived  behind  a  fortification.  There 
was  no  need  of  it.  The  present  imperial  palace  at 
Tokyo  is,  to  be  sure,  protected  by  a  moat  and  great 
stone  walls,  but  that  was  originally  built  for  shoguns, 
and  was  taken  over  by  the  Imperial  House  only  at 
the  time  of  the  Restoration. 

"Our  old  Japanese  idea  is  that  the  Emperor  is 
the  father  of  his  people.  There  is  a  certain  rever- 
ence, yet  a  certain  democracy,  too,  in  our  feeling 
on  this  subject.  We  who  have  the  old  ideas  regret 
that  the  Emperor  now  appears  in  a  military  or  naval 
uniform.  It  is  too  much  like  the  European  way, 
too  much  like  abandoning  the  feeling  that  he  is  the 
head  of  the  family.  For  a  uniform  seems  to  make 
him  only  a  part  of  the  army  or  the  navy. 

"But  we  had  to  modify  our  customs  to  suit  those 
of  other  nations.  Ambassadors  began  to  come  from 
foreign  lands.  The  Emperor  did  not  wish  to  see 
them,  but  was  obliged  to  do  so  because  they  re- 
presented great  powers  to  whom  we  could  not  say 
no. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  175 

"At  first,  when  the  Emperor  received  ambas- 
sadors, he  wore  his  ancient  imperial  robes  and  was 
seated  upon  cushions,  Japanese  fashion.  But  the 
ambassadors  were  arrayed  in  brilliant  uniforms 
covered  with  decorations,  and  in  accordance  with 
their  home  customs  they  stood  in  the  imperial 
presence.  They  would  stand  before  a  European 
king  or  an  American  president.  Therefore  it 
seemed  to  them  respectful  to  stand  before  our  Em- 
peror. 

"But,  according  to  our  customs,  that  is  the  worst 
thing  that  can  happen.  We  must  always  be  lower 
than  the  Emperor;  we  must  not  even  look  from 
a  second-story  window  when  he  drives  by.  The 
Emperor's  audience-room  was  so  constructed  that 
he  sat  in  an  elevated  place  at  the  head  of  a  flight 
of  steps.  But  even  so,  one  never  entered  his  pres- 
ence standing  fully  erect.  The  idea  of  deference 
was  visibly  indicated  by  a  stooping  position,  and 
as  one  ascended  the  steps  toward  the  Imperial 
Person,  one  bent  over  more  and  more,  until,  on 
reaching  the  plane  on  which  the  Emperor  was  seated, 
one  knelt,  with  bowed  head,  so  as  still  to  be  below 
him. 

"A  foreigner,  on  the  other  hand,  wishing  to  show 
proper  respect  to  an  exalted  personage,  would  make 
a  bow  from  the  waist  and  then  assume  a  stiffly 
erect  attitude,  almost  like  a  soldier  standing  at 
attention.  Can  you  imagine  an  Occidental  admiral 
or  general,  with  his  tight  uniform,  heavy  braid,  and 
sword,  approaching  any  one  upon  his  hands  and 


176  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

knees?  It  would  be  foreign  to  his  nature  and  train- 
ing, not  to  say  ruinous  to  his  costume.* 

"Moreover,  the  important  foreigners  who  came 
to  Japan  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  transition 
were  gorgeous  with  gold  lace  and  jewelled  decora- 
tions. Up  to  that  time  we  had  no  decorations 
and  no  modern  uniforms  and  trappings  of  rank. 
Even  our  Emperor,  in  his  magnificent  robes,  was 
not  adorned  with  gold  braid,  and  no  jewels  flashed 
from  his  breast. 

"Naturally,  then,  we  had  to  change.  We  created 
new  orders  of  nobility;  decorations  were  devised,  uni- 
forms were  designed,  all  according  to  the  European 
plan.  In  the  old  days  we  had  shogun,  daimio,  and 
samurai.  Now  we  have  princes  of  the  blood,  princes 
not  of  the  blood,  marquises,  counts,  viscounts,  and 
barons.  We  have  decorations  to  shine  with  foreign 
decorations.  We  have  field-marshals  and  admirals 
to  meet  the  foreign  field-marshals  and  admirals." 

He  sighed,  and  looked  through  the  open  window 
to  the  garden  shimmering  in  moonlight. 

"Sometimes,"  he  said,  reflectively,  "it  seems  to 
me  that  the  only  place  where  the  spirit  of  Old 
Japan  can  feel  at  home  is  when  it  wanders  through 
our  ancient  gardens.  They  are  unchanged." 

He  paused,  still  gazing  through  the  open  window, 
then  went  on: 


*An  extremely  interesting  account  of  the  first  audience  given  by 
the  Emperor  to  a  foreign  ambassador  is  contained  in  "Memories,"  by 
the  late  Lord  Redesdale,  who  was  present.  Lord  Redesdale  was  then 
Mr.  Mitford,  and  was  engaged  in  preparing  a  volume  which  later 
became  widely  known  under  the  title  "Tales  of  Old  Japan." 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  177 

"That  is  another  thing  I  must  talk  to  you  about. 
We  Japanese  have  a  profound  feeling  about  gardens. 
The  structure  of  a  garden  is  a  matter  of  the  first 
importance.  You  must  see  some  of  our  gardens." 

"I  have  done  so  already,"  I  replied.  "I  have 
taken  pains  to  visit  many  of  them,  and  I 

"But,"  he  interrupted,  "I  am  not  speaking 
entirely  of  vision  in  the  sense  of  sight.  One  must 
have  understanding  of  these  things.  I  am  talking  of 
the  basic  principles  upon  which  every  garden  should 
be  made." 

"That  is  just  what  I  am  talking  about,"  I  returned, 
enthusiastically.  "It  happens  that  I  have  made 
quite  a  study  of  your  theory  of  gardens." 

I  must  own  that  I  did  not  speak  without  a  certain 
complacency.  I  had  the  comfortable  feeling  that  al- 
ways comes  to  one  who  hears  a  subject  broached 
and  feels  himself  well  equipped  to  discuss  it. 

"That  is  very  gratifying,"  said  the  philosopher, 
politely. 

It  was  indeed  very  gratifying.  My  memory 
was  good.  I  casually  mentioned  the  four  periods 
of  Japanese  landscape  gardening,  making  easy 
references  to  the  Emperor  Shomu,  the  scenery 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtse  River,  and  the  Chin- 
ese master  Shunsui.  Then  I  began  to  file  my  bill 
of  particulars. 

"Of  course,"  I  said,  "the  one  great  secret  of  the 
art  is  to  apply  the  volcanic  principle.  One  should 
go  for  themes  to  places  of  volcanic  origin — places 
like  Lake  Chuzenji  and  Nikko,  places  where  lakes, 


178          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

formed  in  the  beds  of  extinct  volcanoes,  overflow, 
making  beautiful  waterfalls  and  torrents  which  rush 
through  rocky  valleys.  There,  of  course,  is  the  basis 
for  your  entire  garden  composition." 

He  sat  staring  at  me.  His  eyes  shone.  Evi- 
dently I  was  making  a  deep  impression  on  him. 

"Of  course,"  I  resumed,  "volcanic  explosions 
throw  rich  soil  into ' 

"Stop!"  he  cried,  half  rising  from  his  chair. 
"Who  gave  you  those  theories?  Where  did  you 
learn  all  this?" 

"In  Tokyo,"  I  answered  proudly,  "I  happened 
to  meet— 

"Never  mind  whom  you  met,"  he  broke  in,  his 
voice  trembling  with  intensity.  "These  things 
you  have  been  saying  are  terrible — terrible!  Such 
ideas  are  ruining  art  and  beauty  in  Japan.  A  garden 
of  that  kind  is  an  abomination." 

I  sat  stunned  while  he  stood  over  me. 

"The  thing  above  all  others  to  keep  away  from," 
he  continued,  vehemently,  "is  anything  volcanic. 
That  should  be  apparent  to  any  one — any  one! 
The  very  cause  of  volcanic  structure  is  violence. 
It  is  the  embodiment  of  turmoil,  unrest."  He 
made  a  wild  gesture  with  his  arms.  "A  volcano 
blows  up,  it  explodes — bang!  It  throws  everything 
about  helter-skelter.  It  is  horrible.  That  is  a  gar- 
den for  a  madhouse  or  the  palace  of  a  narikin — a 
new  millionaire." 

"But  don't  you  think— 

"If  one  thing  is  more  essential  than  another  in  a 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  179 

garden,"  he  went  on,  ignoring  my  effort  to  inter- 
rupt, "it  is  peace,  tranquillity,  an  atmosphere  con- 
ducive to  meditation.  Fancy  a  cultivated  gentleman, 
a  philosopher,  trying  to  meditate  among  volcanoes, 
waterfalls,  and  roaring  torrents!  A  garden  should 
have  no  waterfalls.  Water,  if  it  is  there  at  all, 
should  flow  as  placidly  as  philosophic  thought. 
There  should  be  no  fish  darting  about,  no  noisy 
splashing  fountains,  no  gaudy  peonies,  or  other 
striking  and  distracting  things.  The  purpose  of  a 
garden  should  not  be  display.  Its  proper  purpose 
is  not  to  excite  the  beholder,  but  to  fill  him  with 
a  rich  contentment.  A  garden  should  be  a  bathing- 
place  for  the  soul.  And  one  no  more  wishes  to 
plunge  the  soul  than  the  body  into  a  roaring  torrent. 
No;  there  is  in  life  already  too  much  stress  and  tur- 
moil. The  soul  cries  out  for  repose.  One  must  lave 
it  in  a  crystal  pool,  healing  and  refreshing." 

He  paused,  short  of  breath. 

"But  don't  you  think " 

"Say  no  more!    It  is  late.    I  must  go  home." 

I  walked  with  him  to  the  garden  gate.  A  new 
moon  hanging  in  a  sky  of  blue  and  silver  was  re- 
flected in  a  still  pool,  its  margins  soft  with  the  dark, 
cloud-like  forms  of  shrubbery.  Near  the  gate  some 
calla  lilies  stood  like  graceful,  silent  ghosts.  The 
night  air  was  fragrant  with  the  scent  of  rich,  damp 
soil  and  growing  things. 

"But  don't  you  think,"  I  pleaded  as  I  opened  the 
gate  to  let  him  pass,  "that  there  is,  after  all,  some- 
thing poetic  in  the  volcanic  conception  of  a  garden?  " 


180  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"  No,  no,"  he  cried.  "  Poetic?  No.  Good  night. 
Good  night.  I  do  not  understand  this  new  Japan. 
There  is  no  repose  any  more.  It  is  all  volcanoes, 
all  exploding.  It  is  the  beauties  of  calm  that  we 
are  losing.  Calm!  Yes,  that  is  it,  calm!  calm! 
calm!" 

His  agitated  voice,  shouting,  "Calm!  calm!  calm!" 
came  back  to  me  as  like  a  typhoon  he  whirled  off  into 
the  darkness,  leaving  me  in  the  sweet  quiet  of  the 
garden — to  meditate. 


PART  III 


CHAPTER    XVI 

The  "Connecticut  Yankee'9  in  Old  Japan — Commodore 
Perry — The  Elder  Statesmen — Marquis  Okuma — Self- 
made  Men — Viscount  Shibusawa — The  Power  of  the  Daim- 
yo — Samurai  Privileges,  Including  That  of  Suicide — 
Education  in  Old  Japan — Jigoro  Kano  and  Jiudo — The 
Farewell  Letter  of  a  Patriot — Kodokwan  and  Butokukai — 
The  Old  Military  Virtues— General  Nogi—His  Death  With 
Countess  Nogi 

DESPITE  the  convulsions,  overturnings,  and 
transitions  through  which  so  many  nations 
have  lately  been  passing,  Japan  still  holds 
the  world's  record  for  swift  and  stupendous  change. 
The  thing  that  happened  to  Japan  staggers  the  im- 
agination. History  affords  no  parallel.  The  near- 
est parallel  is  to  be  found  in  the  fiction  of  a  great 
imaginative  writer.  An  American  or  a  European 
going  to  Japan  at  approximately  the  time  of  the 
Imperial  Restoration  of  1868,  found  himself,  in 
effect,  dropped  back  through  the  centuries  after  the 
manner  of  Mark  Twain's  "Connecticut  Yankee"; 
and  the  Japanese  who  lived  through  the  transition 
which  then  began,  met  an  experience  like  that  pic- 
tured in  Mark  Twain's  fantasy  as  having  befallen 
the  people  of  King  Arthur's  Court  when  modern 
knowledge  was  suddenly  visited  upon  them. 

183 


184          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

The  true  story  of  Japan,  however,  surpasses  in  its 
wonder  the  invention  of  Mark  Twain;  for  whereas 
the  facts  of  history  compelled  the  author  of  "A 
Connecticut  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's  Court" 
to  let  ancient  Britain  backslide  into  her  semi- 
barbarism  after  the  disappearance  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Yankee,  Japan  not  only  changed  completely 
but  held  her  gains  and  continued  to  progress. 

The  beginning  of  the  period  of  transition  is  cus- 
tomarily dated  from  the  year  1853,  when  Commo- 
dore Perry  first  arrived,  or  from  1854,  when  he 
negotiated  his  treaty;  but  though  that  treaty  did 
open  the  door  through  which  the  spirit  of  change  was 
soon  to  enter,  the  actual  modernizing  of  the  nation 
did  not  start  until  1868,  when  Yoshinobu  Tokugawa, 
fifteenth  of  his  line,  and  last  shogun  to  govern 
Japan,  relinquished  his  power  to  the  Emperor. 

Men  able  to  remember  the  events  of  the  Restora- 
tion are  about  as  rare  in  Japan  as  are  those  who,  in 
this  country,  remember  the  impeachment  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  which  occurred  in  the  same  year;  and  men 
who  played  important  parts  in  the  Restoration  are 
of  course  rarer  still — as  rare,  say,  as  Americans 
who  played  important  parts  in  the  Civil  War.  As 
for  Japanese  who  can  recall  Perry's  visit,  they  would 
correspond  in  years  to  those  who,  with  us,  can 
recollect  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  for  Free  Soil 
in  Kansas.  In  neither  land,  alas,  is  there  more  than 
a  handful  of  such  old  folk  left. 

It  so  happens,  however,  that  in  Japan  several 
very  remarkable  men  have  survived  to  great  age. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  185 

The  three  most  powerful  figures  in  politics  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  were  the  octogenarian  noblemen 
known  as  the  Genro,  or  Elder  Statesmen:  Field 
Marshal  Prince  Yamagata,  Marquis  Matsukata, 
and  Marquis  Okuma.  Prince  Yamagata,  as  a 
soldier,  took  an  active  part  in  the  civil  warfare 
attending  the  Restoration.  Roth  he  and  Marquis 
Okuma  were  born  in  1838 — that  is  to  say  seven 
years  before  Texas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as 
the  twenty-eighth  state-  Marquise  Matsukata  was 
born  in  1840. 

Of  these  venerable  statesmen,  Prince  Yamagata 
and  Marquis  Matsukata  figured,  I  found,  as  great 
unseen  influences;  but  Marquis  Okuma,  while  per- 
haps not  actually  more  active  than  his  colleagues 
of  the  Genro,  appeared  frequently  before  the  public, 
and  was  more  of  a  popular  idol,  being  often  referred 
to  as  Japan's  "Grand  Old  Man."  In  politics  he 
had  long  been  known  as  a  great  fighter  and  an  artful 
tactician;  also  he  was  sympathetically  regarded  by 
reason  of  his  having  been,  many  years  ago,  the  victim 
of  a  bomb  outrage  in  which  he  lost  a  leg. 

I  knew  of  his  having  been  thus  crippled,  but 
through  some  trick  of  memory  failed  to  recall  the 
fact  when,  one  day,  I  found  myself  a  member  of  a 
small  party  of  Americans  received  by  the  Marquis 
at  his  house.  We  were  with  him  for  something 
more  than  an  hour;  perhaps  two  hours.  During 
that  tune  he  stood  and  made  an  address,  moved 
about  the  room,  and  even  stepped  out  to  the  garden, 
yet  I  was  not  once  reminded  of  his  physical  handicap. 


186          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

I  have  never  seen  a  person  so  seriously  maimed 
who,  in  his  movements,  revealed  it  so  little.  And 
that  at  eighty-three  years  of  age! 

I  should  have  guessed  him  twenty  years  younger. 
Lean,  tall,  wiry,  alert,  with  close-cropped  white  hair 
and  snapping  black  eyes,  he  appeared  to  be  at  the 
very  apex  of  his  powers. 

That  he  was  versatile  I  knew.  All  three  of  the 
Geuro.  have  at  various  times  been  Prime  Minister, 
and  have  held  other  high  offices  under  the  Govern- 
ment, but  Marquis  Okuma's  positions  have  been 
extremely  varied,  calling  for  the  display  of  a  wide 
range  of  knowledge  and  of  talents.  I  was  told  that  he 
had  organized  the  Nationalist  Party,  published  a 
magazine,  edited  a  number  of  important  literary  and 
historical  works,  founded  and  presided  over  Waseda 
University,  and  had  long  been  famed  as  a  horticul- 
turist. 

It  was  a  curious  thing  to  hear  him  speak  in  a 
language  I  could  not  understand,  yet  to  feel  so 
strongly  his  gift  for  swaying  men  with  oratory. 

The  experience  reminded  me  of  that  of  a  newspaper 
man  I  know,  who  accompanied  William  Jennings  Bryan 
on  one  of  his  political  speech-making  tours  long  ago. 

"I  was  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Republican,"  he  told 
me,  in  recounting  the  experience,  "and  did  not 
believe  in  Bryan  or  his  measures,  yet  I  continually 
found  myself  carried  away  by  his  oratory.  While 
he  was  speaking  he  made  me  believe  in  things  I 
didnt  believe  in.  I  would  want  to  applaud  and 
cheer  him  like  the  rest  of  the  audience. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  187 

"Afterwards  I  would  go  back  to  the  train  and 
sober  up.  I  wanted  to  kick  myself  for  letting  him 
twist  me  around  his  finger  like  that.  But  the  next 
time  I  heard  him  the  same  thing  would  happen.  It 
wasn't  what  he  said;  it  was  his  voice  and  phrasing 
and  his  magnetism." 

I  have  no  doubt  that  a  Japanese  unacquainted 
with  English  would  sense  Bryan's  elocutionary 
power  precisely  as  I  did  that  of  Marquis  Okuma; 
indeed  I  am  not  sure  that  a  foreigner,  unfamiliar 
with  the  language  of  the  orator,  is  not  in  a  sense 
the  auditor  who  can  best  measure  his  power. 

Marquis  Okuma's  features  indicated  extraordinary 
pugnacity,  yet  I  should  say  that  his  pugnacity  was 
under  perfect  control.  He  could  exhibit  both  passion 
and  icy  coolness,  and  I  believe  he  could  turn  on  either 
at  will,  as  one  turns  on  hot  or  cold  water.  If  he  was 
William  Jennings  Bryan  he  was  also  Henry  Cabot 
Lodge. 

It  is  worth  remarking  that  these  Elder  Statesmen 
are  without  exception  self-made  men.  None  of 
them  was  born  with  a  title;  all  were  members  of 
modest  samurai  families;  all  rose  through  ability. 

In  this  respect,  as  in  many  others,  comparisons 
between  the  governmental  system  of  Imperial 
Japan  and  that  of  Imperial  Germany  that  was, 
do  not  hold.  Japan  is  not  governed  by  a  hereditary 
ruling  class.  The  government  service  is  open  to 
all  men,  under  a  system  of  competitive  examinations, 
and  promotion  does  not  go  by  family  or  favour, 


188  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

but  is  in  almost  all  cases  a  recognition  of  ability 
exhibited  in  minor  offices.  Young  men  in  the  con- 
sular service  are  in  line  for  ambassadorships  and 
may  reasonably  hope,  if  they  exhibit  great  talents, 
ultimately  to  reach  the  highest  offices. 

It  would  seem,  moreover,  that  in  Japan  as  in 
some  other  lands,  aristocratic  and  wealthy  families 
do  not,  as  a  rule,  produce  the  strongest  men.  Thus 
I  was  informed  that,  of  the  entire  cabinet  of  Prime 
Minister  Hara,  but  one  member  was  a  man  of  noble 
family,  that  one  having  been  Count  Oki,  Minister 
of  Justice.  And  even  Count  Oki  was  only  of  the 
second  generation  of  nobility. 

In  the  business  world  the  same  rule  applies.  The 
titled  business  men  of  Japan  have  risen,  practically 
without  exception,  from  humble  beginnings.  I 
was  told  that  one  of  them,  whom  I  met,  had  begun 
life  as  a  pedlar,  and  was  proud  of  it.  Looking 
up  another  business  genius  in  the  national  "Who's 
Who,"  I  find  the  following  statement,  which  may  be 
assumed  to  have  been  furnished  by  the  gentleman  to 
whom  it  refers: 

Arrived  in  Tokyo  in  '71,  with  empty  purse;  proceeded  to 
Yokohama,  supporting  himself  by  hawking  cheap  viands. 

If  the  honorary  title,  "Grand  Old  Man  of  Japan," 
had  not  already  been  conferred,  and  I  had  been 
invited  to  make  nominations,  I  should  have  gone 
outside  the  realm  of  politics  and  cast  my  vote  for 
Viscount  Eiichi  Shibusawa. 

Had  the  Viscount  been,  at  the  time  of  the  Restora- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  189 

tion,  a  member  of  one  of  the  great  clans  responsible 
for  the  return  of  the  reins  of  government  to  Imperial 
hands,  his  career  might  have  resembled  more  closely 
the  careers  of  the  three  old  nobles  of  the  Genro. 
But  whereas  Prince  Yamagata,  Marquis  Matsukata, 
and  Marquis  Okuma  were  respectively  men  of 
Choshu,  Satsuma,  and  Saga — clans  that  cast  their 
lot  with  the  coalition  that  returned  the  Emperor 
to  power — Viscount  Shibusawa  was  on  the  other 
side,  having  been  a  retainer  of  the  last  shogun. 

The  spoils  went,  naturally  enough,  to  the  victors. 
Strong  men  belonging  to  the  clans  which  had  sup- 
ported the  Imperial  House  became  the  strong  men 
of  the  centralized  government.  Even  to-day,  when 
clans,  as  such,  no  longer  exist,  the  old  clan  senti- 
ment survives,  with  the  result  that  men  of  Satsuma 
and  Choshu  origin  are  most  influential  in  politics. 
The  militaristic  tendency  sometimes  noticed  in  the 
action  of  the  Japanese  Government  is.  said  to  be 
largely  due  to  this  fact,  for  the  clan  of  Satsuma 
was  in  the  old  days  notorious  for  its  warlike  inclina- 
tions, and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  those 
inclinations  have,  to  some  extent  survived.  Naval 
officers  are  to-day  drawn  largely  from  old  Satsuma 
families,  while  Choshu  furnishes  many  officers  to  the 
army. 

At  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  Viscount  Shibusawa 
had  by  his  ability  become  vice-minister  of  the 
Shogun's  treasury.  Naturally,  then,  after  the  fall 
of  the  shogunate,  he  went  in  for  finance.  He 
founded  the  First  Bank  of  Japan— literally  the 


190          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

first  modern  bank  started  there — and,  prospering 
greatly  became  a  man  of  large  affairs.  Repeatedly 
he  was  offered  the  portfolio  of  Finance  under  the 
Government,  but  always  refused  it.  A  few  years 
ago  he  retired  from  active  business,  and  as  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned,  gave  his  time  thereafter  to  all 
manner  of  good  works. 

When  I  met  him  he  was  nearing  his  eighty-second 
birthday.  He  distinctly  remembered  Perry's  ar- 
rival in  Japan  and  the  events  that  followed.  I 
wished  to  get  the  story  of  a  representative  man 
who  had  seen  these  things,  and  therefore  asked  him 
to  grant  me  an  interview.  This  he  was  so  kind  as 
to  do,  allowing  me  the  better  part  of  two  days — for 
interviewing  through  an  interpreter,  even  though 
he  be  the  best  of  interpreters,  is  slow  work. 

We  talked  in  a  pretty  brick  bungalow  in  the  Vis- 
count's garden.  Outside  the  door  was  an  English 
rose-garden,  with  bushes  trained  to  the  shape  of 
trees. 

Prior  to  that  time  I  had  always  seen  the  Viscount 
wearing  a  frock  coat  or  a  dress  suit,  but  here  at 
home,  on  a  day  free  from  formalities,  he  was  clad 
in  the  silken  robes  that  Japanese  gentlemen  put  on 
for  comfort — though  they  might  well  put  them  on 
for  elegance,  too. 

Short,  stocky,  energetic,  with  a  strong  neck  and 
large  round  head,  the  face  seamed  with  deep  wrinkles, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary-looking  men 
I  had  ever  met.  He  radiated  force,  courage, 
honesty.  I  knew  a  Sioux  chief,  long  ago,  who  had  a 


Viscount  Shibusawa,  one  of  the  Grand  Old  Men  of  Japan, 
consented  to  pose  for  me,  wearing  his  samurai  swords 


Viscount  Kentaro  Kaneko  (Harvard  '78),  Privy  Councilor 
to  the  Emperor,  President  of  the  America-Japan  Society  of 
Tokyo,  and  friend  of  President  Roosevelt 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  191 

face  like  that,  even  to  the  colour,  and  to  the  deep 
wrinkles  of  humour  about  the  mouth  and  eyes. 
Nor,  in  either  case,  did  the  promise  of  those  wrinkles 
fail. 

When,  having  likened  Viscount  Shibusawa  to  an 
Indian  chief,  I  also  liken  him  to  a  barrel-bodied, 
square-jawed,  weather-beaten  old  British  squire 
of  the  perfect  John  Bull  type,  I  may  overtax  the 
reader's  imagination;  yet  there  was  in  him  as  much 
of  the  one  as  of  the  other. 

He  was  born  in  the  country,  coming  of  a  good  but 
not  aristocratic  family.  The  Japan  of  his  youth 
and  early  manhood  was  divided  into  some  two 
hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  feudal  districts, 
each  ruled  by  a  daimyo,  or  chieftain,  having  his 
castles,  his  court,  his  concubines,  his  retainers — 
among  the  latter  soldiers  in  armour,  equipped  with 
swords,  spears  or  bows  and  arrows,  and  wearing  hid- 
eous masks  calculated  to  terrify  the  foe. 

These  chiefs  had  absolute  power  over  the  people 
and  lands  in  their  domains.  They  could  make 
laws,  issue  paper  money,  levy  taxes,  impose  labour 
and  punishment  on  the  people,  or  arbitrarily  take 
from  them  property  or  life  itself. 

It  was  a  land  without  railroads,  without  steam 
power,  without  window-glass;  aland  in  which  nobles 
journeyed  by  the  highroads  in  magnificent  proces- 
sions, surrounded  by  their  soldiers,  mounted  and 
afoot,  their  lacquered  palanquins,  their  coolie  bear- 
ers; a  land  in  which,  when  great  lords  passed,  humble 
citizens  fell  to  their  knees  and  touched  their  fore- 


192          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

heads  to  the  ground;  a  land  of  duels,  feuds,  vendettas, 
clan  wars;  a  land  in  which  the  samurai,  or  gentry, 
alone  were  allowed  to  wear  swords,  and  in  which  one 
of  the  privileges  most  highly  prized  by  the  samurai 
was  that  of  dying  by  his  own  hand,  if  condemned 
to  death,  instead  of  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 
Involved  with  the  privilege  of  hara-kiri,  or  seppuku, 
was  a  property  right.  The  property  of  a  man 
beheaded  by  the  executioner  was  confiscated,  whereas 
one  committing  hara-kiri  could  leave  his  estate  to 
his  family. 

The  education  of  young  men  varied  in  those  times 
according  to  rank.  Youths  of  the  aristocracy 
were  instructed  in  the  Chinese  classics,  which  in 
Japan  take  the  place  of  Latin  and  Greek  with  us. 
Medicine  and  astronomy  were  also  taught.  The 
sons  of  lesser  samurai  received  a  training  calculated 
to  fit  them  for  practical  affairs.  All  those  entitled  to 
wear  swords  studied  swordsmanship,  and  the  pro- 
cess by  which  they  learned  it  was  sometimes  severe, 
for  it  was  the  custom  of  masters  to  attack  the  pupil 
suddenly  from  behind,  or  even  when  he  was  asleep 
at  night,  on  the  theory  that  he  should  be  ready 
at  all  times  to  defend  himself.  A  samurai  found 
killed  with  his  sword  completely  sheathed  was  dis- 
graced. At  least  two  inches  of  the  blade  must 
show  in  proof  that  the  dead  man  had  attempted 
a  defence.  Jiu-jutsu  was  also  taught  to  many  samurai 
youths,  and  in  this,  as  in  swordsmanship,  it  was  the 
practice  of  instructors  to  make  surprise  attacks  upon 
their  pupils. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  193 

Viscount  Shibusawa's  recollections  of  old  days,  as 
he  recounted  them  to  me,  will  make  a  separate 
chapter,  but  before  that  chapter  is  begun,  let  me 
mention  several  points  of  samurai  tradition — among 
them  jiu-jutsu,  and  the  more  advanced  art  or  science 
of  jiudo,  developed  by  my  friend  Mr.  Jigoro  Kano. 

As  after  the  Restoration  the  craze  for  all  things 
American  and  European  spread  through  Japan, 
the  old  arts  of  jiu-jutsu,  which  for  more  than  three 
centuries  had  been  practised  by  samurai,  fell  into 
disuse.  Refore  that  time  there  had  been  many  dif- 
ferent schools  of  jiu-jutsu,  teaching  a  variety  of 
systems,  but  as  the  old  masters  of  the  art  became 
superannuated  no  followers  were  arising  to  take  their 
places. 

In  1878,  when  Mr.  Kano  took  up  the  study  of 
jiu-jutsu,  he  saw  that,  through  lack  of  interest, 
many  of  the  fine  points  of  the  art  were  likely  to  be 
lost.  In  order  to  preserve  as  much  of  it  as  he  could, 
he  went  to  great  pains  to  make  himself  proficient, 
not  merely  in  one  system  of  jiu-jutsu,  but  in  several 
systems  as  taught  by  the  several  great  masters 
then  alive. 

His  first  interest  in  jiu-jutsu  arose  through  the 
fact  that  he  had  been  a  weak  child  and  wished  to 
make  himself  a  strong  man.  I  was  reminded  of 
Theodore  Roosevelt's  sickly  childhood  when  Mr. 
Kano  told  me  that;  and  it  is  interesting  to  recall 
that  it  was  President  Roosevelt  who  first  caused 
jiu-jutsu  to  be  widely  talked  of  in  the  United  States, 
and  that  he  studied  it,  while  in  the  White  House, 


194          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

under  one  of  Mr.  Kano's  pupils.  Also  I  was  in- 
terested to  hear  from  Mr.  Kano  that,  as  a  young 
man,  he  gave  an  exhibition  of  jiu-jutsu  before 
General  Grant,  at  Viscount  Shibusawa's  house  in 
Tokyo. 

Far  from  being  a  professional  athlete,  Mr.  Kano 
is  a  gentleman  of  samurai  family,  a  graduate  of  the 
Literary  College  of  the  Imperial  University,  a 
linguist,  a  traveller,  an  educator  of  high  reputation, 
the  holder  of  several  decorations.  Among  other 
offices  he  has  been  head  master  of  the  Peers'  School 
in  Tokyo. 

As  the  reader  is  doubtless  aware,  the  theory  of 
jiu-jutsu  was  to  defeat  the  adversary,  not  by  pitting 
force  against  force,  but  by  yielding  before  the  op- 
ponent's onslaughts  in  such  a  way  as  to  turn  his 
strength  against  him. 

Jiudo,  which  means  "the  way  or  doctrine  of 
yielding,"  is  a  combination,  created  by  Mr.  Kano, 
of  all  systems  of  jiu-jutsu  interwoven  with  a  plan 
of  mental,  moral,  and  physical  training,  calculated 
to  elevate  the  art  above  any  mere  consideration 
of  combat  alone — although  that  side  is  by  no  means 
neglected. 

Innumerable  stories,  exciting  or  amusing,  might 
be  told  of  the  heroic  adventures  of  celebrated  jiu- 
doists,  but  I  know  of  nothing  which  sheds  more  light 
upon  Mr.  Kano's  teachings,  in  their  moral  aspect, 
than  does  a  letter  written  to  him  by  Commander 
Yuasa  of  the  Japanese  Navy,  a  former  pupil  of 
the  Kodokwan,  the  school  of  jiudo  established  by 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  195 

Mr.  Kano  in  Tokyo.  The  letter  was  written  by 
Commander  Yuasa  when  he  was  about  to  take  the 
steamer  Sagami  Maru  and  sink  her  at  the  harbour 
entrance  in  the  third  blockading  expedition  at 
Port  Arthur.  The  following  are  extracts  from 
it: 

We  shall  do  all  that  human  power  can,  and  leave  the  rest  to 
Heaven.  Thus  we  can  calmly  ride  to  certain  death.  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  among  the  members  of  this  forlorn  hope  are 
three  of  your  former  pupils:  Commander  Hirose,  Lieutenant 
Commander  Honda,  and  myself.  May  this  fact  redound  to  the 
credit  of  the  Kodokwan. 

Though  I  greatly  regret  that  while  living  I  could  not  do  justice 
to  the  kindness  you  have  shown  me,  still  please  accept  as  an 
expression  of  my  gratitude  the  fact  that  I  lay  down  my  life  for 
the  sake  of  our  country,  as  you  have  so  kindly  taught  us,  in 
time  of  peace,  to  be  ready  to  do. 

The  writer  of  this  letter  was  lost,  as  was  also 
Commander  Hirose,  one  of  the  brother  officers 
he  mentions.  The  other,  Lieutenant  Commander 
Honda,  was  wounded  by  a  shell,  but  was  rescued 
and  lived  to  tell  the  tale. 

Foreigners  visiting  Japan  and  wishing  to  see  jiudo 
demonstrated,  are  welcome  at  the  Kodokwan, 
where,  if  notice  is  given,  an  interpreter  is  provided. 
There  are  now  some  twenty  thousand  practitioners 
of  jiudo  who  look  to  the  Kodokwan  as  headquarters 
and  to  Mr.  Kano  as  their  master. 

Another  place  where  jiudo  may  be  witnessed 
is  at  the  Butokukai — Association  for  the  Inculcation 
of  the  Military  Virtues — in  Kyoto.  The  latter  is 
a  private  organization,  like  an  athletic  club,  with  a 


196  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

fine  temple-like  building,  and  many  branch  establish- 
ments  throughout  the  country.  It  has  some  two 
hundred  thousand  members,  of  which  several  thou- 
sands are  active. 

The  primary  idea  of  this  organization  is  to  keep 
alive  certain  old  Japanese  military  arts,  such  as 
jiudo,  archery,  fencing,  the  use  of  lances  and  spears, 
and  the  employment  of  the  curious  lance-like 
naginata,  which,  with  its  curved  blade  and  long 
handle,  was  used  only  by  women. 

Contests  between  men  armed  with  dummy  swords 
and  women  using  wooden  naginata  are  sometimes 
to  be  witnessed  at  the  Butokukai,  and  are  extremely 
interesting  as  recalling  the  days  when  the  women 
of  Old  Japan  fought  beside  their  men,  using  the 
naginata  as  an  offensive  weapon,  and  a  short  dagger, 
worn  in  the  fold  of  the  obi,  as  a  defensive  weapon 
corresponding  to  the  shorter  of  the  two  swords 
that  men  used  to  wear. 

Samurai  women  were  taught  to  defend  themselves 
with  the  dagger,  and  to  use  it  for  suicide  if  in  fear 
of  defeat  and  dishonour.  Families  in  which  the 
samurai  tradition  is  sedulously  maintained  still 
make  it  a  custom  to  present  their  daughters,  at  the 
time  of  marriage,  with  daggers  of  this  type,  though 
such  weapons  are  now  recognized  merely  as  emblems 
of  a  spirit  to  be  preserved. 

The  great  modern  samurai  hero  of  Japan  was  Gen- 
eral Count  Nogi,  the  hero  of  Port  Arthur,  in  memory 
of  whom  a  shrine  was  recently  dedicated  in  Tokyo. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  197 

This  shrine  stands  in  the  grounds  behind  the  simple 
house  in  Tokyo  where  Count  and  Countess  Nogi  lived, 
and  where  they  died  together  by  their  own  hands. 
Nogi  is  canonized  in  Japan,  and  his  house  is  held 
a  sacred  place,  and  is  visited  by  thousands  of  persons 
each  year. 

The  theory  upon  which  self-destruction  is  practised 
according  to  the  old  samurai  tradition,  and  is  widely 
approved  in  certain  circumstances,  is  one  of  the 
things  that  baffles  the  Occidental  mind. 

I  therefore  asked  Viscount  Kentaro  Kaneko,  who 
knew  General  Nogi,  to  tell  me  the  story  of  his  death, 
and  to  explain  to  me  how  he  came  to  commit  seppuku. 

"When  Nogi  was  given  command  at  Port  Arthur," 
said  the  Viscount,  "his  two  sons  were  officers  under 
him.  He  told  his  wife  to  prepare  three  coffins, 
and  to  hold  no  funeral  services  until  all  three  were 
ready  to  be  buried  together. 

"In  the  assault  on  Port  Arthur  some  thirty 
thousand  Japanese  soldiers  gave  up  their  lives. 
This  sacrifice  of  life  was  at  first  much  criticized 
in  Japan,  but  public  sentiment  changed  in  face  of 
the  fact  that  the  General  lost  both  his  sons.  He 
returned  to  Japan  a  victor,  it  is  true,  but  a  most 
unhappy  man.  Always  in  his  mind  were  thoughts 
of  the  famihes  of  the  thirty  thousand  brave  young 
men  it  had  been  necessary  to  sacrifice.  He  did  not 
want  to  be  acclaimed  in  the  streets,  but  to  be  let 
alone.  He  went  about  in  an  old  uniform  and  tried 
to  be  as  inconspicuous  as  possible. 

"One  day  at  an  audience  with  the  Emperor 


198          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Meiji,  Nogi  said  to  him  as  he  was  leaving,  something 
to  the  effect  that  he  should  never  see  him  again. 

"The  Emperor,  gathering  that  Nogi  was  contem- 
plating seppuku,  called  him  back. 

'"Nogi/  he  said,  'I  still  have  need  of  you.  I 
want  your  life.' 

"So  the  General  did  not  carry  out  his  plan  at  that 
time,  but  lived  on,  as  the  Emperor  had  ordered  him 
to  do,  becoming  president  of  the  school  at  which 
the  sons  of  nobles  are  educated. 

"All  through  the  years,  however,  he  was  haunted 
by  the  memory  of  the  thirty  thousand  soldiers  he 
had  beenvcompelled  to  send  to  their  death. 

"When  the  Emperor  Meiji  died,  Nogi  was  one 
of  the  guard  of  honour,  made  up  of  peers,  who  in 
rotation  watched  at  the  Imperial  bier  for  forty 
days  and  forty  nights. 

"Then  came  the  state  funeral.  On  the  day  of 
the  funeral  Nogi  wrote  a  poem  which  declared  in 
effect,  'I  shall  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Your 
Majesty.'  This  poem  he  showed  to  Prince  Yama- 
gata,  who  took  it  to  mean  merely  that  Nogi  would 
be  in  the  procession  following  the  Imperial  remains 
to  the  grave. 

"But  when  the  guns  announced  the  departure 
of  the  funeral  cortege  from  the  palace,  Nogi  was 
not  there.  Like  the  samurai  of  old,  he  desired 
to  follow  his  dead  master  into  the  beyond.  At 
the  sound  of  the  guns  he  took  his  short  sword  and 
committed  seppuku,  while  in  the  next  room  Countess 
Nogi,  his  devoted  wife,  dressed  all  in  white,  cut 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN          199 

the  arteries  of  her  neck.  Thus  the  two  died  together, 
for  the  sake  of  the  Emperor  and  the  thirty  thousand 
soldiers  who  had  sacrificed  their  lives." 

At  no  point  is  the  outlook  of  the  Oriental  more 
completely  at  odds  with  that  of  the  Occidental, 
than  in  the  view  it  takes  of  suicide. 

Whereas  with  us  suicide  is  condemned  as  cowardly, 
being  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  escape  from  the  hard- 
ships of  life,  there  will  oftentimes  be  something 
highly  heroic  in  a  Japanese  suicide.  Unhappiness, 
it  is  true,  does  drive  some  Japanese  to  self-destruction, 
but  in  many  other  cases  the  suicide  represents  some- 
thing more  in  the  nature  of  a  self-inflicted  punish- 
ment for  failure  of  some  kind.  Thus  it  is  with  the 
schoolboys  who  sometimes  kill  themselves  because 
they  have  failed  in  their  examinations.  Likewise, 
while  in  Japan  I  heard  of  two  railroad  gatemen  who 
had,  by  failing  to  close  their  gate  when  a  train  was 
coming,  been  responsible  for  the  death  of  a  man 
travelling  in  a  ricksha.  A  few  days  after  this  acci- 
dent both  these  gatemen  suicided  by  throwing  them- 
selves beneath  a  train.  For  their  neglect  they  paid 
voluntarily  with  their  lives. 

"And,"  said  the  Viscount,  "we  had  in  the  old 
days  another  sort  of  suicide,  examples  of  which  some- 
times occur  even  to  this  day.  When  a  man  be- 
lieved profoundly  in  something,  and  was  unable 
to  attract  attention  to  the  thing  in  which  he  believed, 
he  would  sometimes  commit  seppuku  as  a  means 
of  drawing  notice  to  it.  He  would  leave  a  paper 


200  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

setting  forth  his  beliefs,  and  people  would  give  it 
attention,  feeling  that  if  a  man  was  willing  to  die  in 
order  to  emphasize  a  point,  his  message  was  worth 
considering." 

The  Viscount  paused.  Then  rather  reflectively  he 
added:  "It  is  as  though  he  were  to  underscore  his 
protest — in  red." 


CHAPTER    XVII 

The  Old-time  Anti-Foreign  Sentiment — Prince  Yoshinobu 
Tokugawa — Emperor  and  Shogun — Prince  Yoshinobu  be- 
comes Shogun — His  Highness,  Akitake,  Goes  to  France — 
— Humorous  Episodes — The  Defeat  of  Prince  Yoshinobu' s 
Army — Various  Explanations — The  Restoration  of  the 
Emperor — Prince  Yoshinobu's  Retirement — The  Viscount's 
Theory — Prince  Keikyu  Tokugawa — A  Roosevelt  Anecdote 
— Swords  and  Watchchain 

I  WAS  a  boy  of  fourteen,"  said  Viscount  Shibusawa 
"when  your  Commodore  Perry  came  to  Japan. 
At  that  time,   and    for  a  considerable  period 
afterwards,   I  was  *  anti-foreigner' — that  is,   I  was 
opposed  to  the  abandonment  of  our  old  Japanese 
isolation,  and  to  the  opening  of  relations  with  foreign 
powers. 

"The  majority  of  thoughtful  men  felt  as  I  did. 
Our  trouble  with  the  Jesuits,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixteenth  and  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century 
came  about  through  a  fear  which  grew  up  amongst 
us  that  the  Jesuits  were  trying  to  get  political  control 
of  Japan.  This  fear  brought  about  their  expulsion 
from  the  country,  as  well  as  some  persecution  of 
themselves  and  their  converts,  and  it  was  then  that 
our  policy  of  isolation  began.  More  lately  we  had 
seen  the  Opium  War  in  China,  and  that  had  added 

201 


202          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  our  conviction  that  foreign  powers  were  merely 
seeking  territory,  and  that  they  were  utterly  un- 
scrupulous. 

"  When  I  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five,  I  became 
a  retainer  of  Yoshinobu  Tokugawa,  a  powerful 
prince,  kinsman  of  lyemochi  Tokugawa,  who  was 
then  Shogun.  Not  being  of  noble  family,  I  did 
not  belong  to  Prince  Yoshinobu's  intimate  circle, 
but  was  a  member  of  what  might  be  termed  the 
middle  group  at  his  court. 

"He  was  then  acting  as  intermediary  between 
the  Shogun  and  the  Imperial  Court  at  Kyoto — for 
though  the  Shogun  ruled  the  land,  as  shoguns  had 
for  centuries,  there  was  maintained  a  fiction  that 
he  did  so  by  imperial  consent. 

"When  lyemochi  died,  the  powerful  daimyos 
nominated  my  lord,  Prince  Yoshinobu,  to  succeed 
him.  I  was  opposed  to  his  accepting  the  office, 
for  the  country  was  then  in  a  very  unsettled  condi- 
tion, and  I  felt  sure  that  the  next  shogun,  whoever 
he  might  be,  would  have  serious  difficulties  to  en- 
counter; especially  with  the  important  question 
of  foreign  relations  to  the  fore,  and  with  such  power- 
ful lords  as  those  of '  Satsuma ,  Choshu,  Tosa,  and 
Hizan  becoming  increasingly  hostile  to  the  shogunate 
and  increasingly  favourable  to  the  Imperial  House. 

"The  fact  that  Prince  Yoshinobu  had  acted  as 
intermediary  between  his  kinsman,  the  fourteenth 
Shogun,  and  the  Imperial  Court  at  Kyoto,  made  it  a 
delicate  matter  for  him  later  to  accept  the  shogunate. 
Moreover,  though  he  belonged  to  the  Tokugawa 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN          203 

family,  his  branch  of  the  family,  the  Mito  branch, 
had  continually  insisted  upon  Imperial  supremacy 
in  Japan.  However,  circumstances  compelled  him 
to  accept  the  office.  I  was  greatly  disappointed 
when  he  did  so. 

"This  occurred  two  years  after  I  became  his 
retainer.  I  was  now  vice-minister  of  his  treasury, 
with  the  additional  duties  of  keeping  track  of  all 
modern  innovations  and  supervising  the  new-style 
military  drill,  with  rifles,  which  we  were  then  taking 
up. 

"Shortly  after  becoming  Shogun,  Yoshinobu  de- 
cided to  send  his  brother,  Akitake,  to  France  to 
be  educated,  and  he  appointed  me  a  member  of  the 
entourage  that  was  to  accompany  the  young  man. 
I  was  then  twenty-seven  years  old. 

"We  sailed  in  January  1867 — a  party  of  twenty- 
five,  among  whom  were  a  doctor,  an  officer  who  went 
to  study  artillery,  and  various  others  besides  Akit- 
ake's  seven  personal  attendants. 

"For  international  purposes  the  Shogun  was  now 
called  Tycoon,  for  the  word  'shogun,'  meaning 
'generalissimo,'  carried  with  it  no  connotation  of 
rulership;  whereas  'tycoon'  means  'great  prince' 
—and  of  course  it  seemed  proper  enough  for  a  great 
prince  to  treat  with  foreign  powers.  As  brother  of 
the  Tycoon,  Akitake  received,  in  Europe,  the 
title  '  Highness  ' 

"Matters  looked  very  ominous  for  the  shogunate 
at  the  time  we  left  Japan,  but  I  felt  that  the  best 
thing  for  me  to  do  was  to  go  abroad  and  learn  all 


204          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

I  could,  with  a  view  to  being  better  able  to  serve 
my  country  when  I  should  return. 

"The  members  of  our  party  wore  the  Japanese 
costume,  including  topknots  and  two  swords.  I, 
however,  devised  a  special  elegance  for  myself. 
I  heard  that  the  governor  of  Saigon,  where  our  ship 
was  to  stop,  intended  to  welcome  our  party  officially, 
so  I  had  a  dress  coat  made."  The  Viscount  shook 
with  laughter  as  he  recalled  the  episode.  "It 
wasn't  a  dress  suit — just  the  coat.  And  when  we  got 
to  Saigon  I  wore  that  coat  over  my  Japanese  silks, 
in  the  daytime. 

"Our  lack  of  experience  with  European  ways 
caused  many  amusing  things  to  happen.  For  in- 
stance, when  we  were  in  the  train  crossing  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez — there  was  no  canal  then — one 
member  of  the  party,  unaccustomed  to  window-glass, 
threw  an  orange-peel,  expecting  it  to  go  out  of  the 
window.  The  peel  hit  the  glass  and  bounced  back 
falling  into  the  lap  of  an  official  who  had  come 
to  escort  us  across  the  isthmus.  We  were  much 
embarrassed. 

"Later,  in  Paris,  another  absurd  thing  occurred. 
You  must  understand  that  in  Japan  it  is  customary 
for  guests,  leaving  a  house  where  they  have  been 
entertained,  to  wrap  up  cakes  and  such  things  and 
take  them  home.  One  member  of  our  party,  who 
had  never  seen  ice-cream  before,  attempted  this, 
wrapping  the  ice-cream  in  paper  and  tucking  it  in 
the  front  of  his  kimono.  Needless  to  say,  the  ice- 
cream was  no  longer  ice-cream  when  he  got  back 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  205 

to  the  hotel,  and  he  himself  was  not  very  comfort- 
able. 

"The  Paris  Exposition  of  1867  was  in  progress 
when  we  arrived.  When  it  was  over  we  travelled 
through  Switzerland,  Holland,  Belgium,  Italy,  and 
England.  Originally  it  was  planned  that  after 
our  official  tour  we  should  settle  down  to  study, 
and  I  was  eager  for  this  time  to  come.  However, 
it  was  not  long  before  we  received  news  that  the 
shogunate  had  fallen. 

"The  news  was  puzzling.  I  could  not  gather 
what  was  happening  in  Japan.  First  I  heard  that 
Yoshinobu,  as  shogun,  had  publicly  returned  full 
authority  of  the  Emperor,  but  later  came  word  of 
the  battle  of  Toba-Fushimi,  in  which  troops  of  the 
Imperial  Party  defeated  troops  of  the  Shogun. 
This  made  it  appear  that  Yoshinobu  had  played 
false,  first  publicly  relinquishing  the  shogun's  power 
and  then  fighting  to  maintain  it.  These  seemingly 
conflicting  acts  puzzled  me,  for  I  knew  that  Yoshin- 
obu was  a  man  of  the  highest  honour. 

"Presently  came  a  messenger  from  Japan  saying 
that  Akitake  had  become  head  of  the  Mito  branch 
of  the  Tokugawa  family,  which  made  it  necessary 
for  us  to  abandon  our  plans  and  return.  We  sailed 
from  England  in  December  1867,  reaching  Japan 
in  November  1868,  eleven  months  later. 

"I  was  dumbfounded  by  the  changes  I  found. 
Though  I  knew  that  the  Shogun  Government  had 
fallen  I  had  not  visualized  what  that  would  mean. 
My  lord,  Yoshinobu,  was  held  prisoner  in  a  house  in 


206  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Suruga.  Learning  that  he  was  allowed  to  see  his 
intimate  friends  and  retainers,  I  journeyed  to  Suruga, 
where  I  had  audience  with  him  several  times.  I 
found  him  reticent,  and  was  able  to  get  from  him 
little  information  as  to  the  mysterious  course  he  had 
pursued. 

"After  having  been  held  prisoner  for  a  year  he  was 
released,  but  he  continued  for  thirty  years  to  reside 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Suruga,  leading  a  secluded 
life.  Not  until  thirty-one  years  after  his  resignation 
of  the  shogunate  did  he  come  to  Tokyo.  Four 
years  later  the  Emperor  created  him  a  prince  of  the 
new  regime.  This  showed  pretty  clearly  that  the 
Emperor  had  not  mistrusted  him. 

"For  twenty  years  after  my  return  to  Japan 
I  was  unable  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  this  matter. 
I  tried  to  get  some  explanation  from  Yoshinobu 
himself,  but  he  evaded  my  inquiries.  Meanwhile 
the  question  was  constantly  discussed  in  Japan. 
Those  hostile  to  Yoshinobu  contended  that  he  had 
not  acted  with  sincerity,  having  been  led  by  the 
burdens  connected  with  the  opening  of  foreign 
relations,  to  lay  down  the  shogunate,  and  having 
later  changed  his  mind  and  fought  to  retain  it. 
On  the  face  of  it,  this  seemed  true.  Yoshinobu 
was  called  a  coward  and  a  traitor,  and  was  severely 
criticized  for  having  escaped  after  the  battle  of 
Toba-Fushimi. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  supported  Yoshin- 
obu asserted  that  he  had  acted  logically  and  wisely: 
that  he  had  seen  that  his  government  was  going  to 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  207 

fall,  and  had  been  entirely  honest  in  surrendering 
the  shogunate  prior  to  the  battle.  These  adherents 
insisted  that  he  had  not  wanted  a  battle,  but  had  set 
out  for  Kyoto  to  see  the  Emperor  with  a  view  to 
arranging  details,  especially  with  regard  to  the  future 
welfare  of  his  retainers.  "But  when  a  great  lord 
travelled,  in  those  times,  he  travelled  with  an  army, 
and  Yoshinobu's  defenders  maintained  that  this  was 
what  had  brought  on  the  battle — that  when  the  men 
of  Choshu  and  Satsuma  learned  that  Yoshinobu 
was  moving  toward  Kyoto  with  his  soldiers,  they 
came  out  and  attacked  him,  believing,  or  pretending 
to  believe,  that  he  was  on  a  hostile  errand. 

"At  this  time  the  Emperor  was  but  seventeen 
years  of  age,  and  the  Government  was  in  the  hands  of 
elder  statesmen  of  the  Imperial  Party.  The  Emperor 
himself  probably  had  no  idea  on  what  errand  Yoshi- 
nobu was  approaching  Kyoto;  and  whether  the  elder 
statesmen  knew  or  not,  they  belonged  to  clans  hostile 
to  the  shogunate,  and  preferred  to  fight. 

"Many  years  passed  before  the  truth  began  to 
become  clear.  At  last,  when  the  old  wounds  were 
pretty  well  healed,  I  undertook  the  compilation 
of  a  history  of  Yoshinobu's  life  and  times.  Finally 
I  asked  him  point-blank  about  the  events  connected 
with  his  resignation  and  the  subsequent  battle. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  indeed  started  to  Kyoto 
on  a  peaceful  errand,  but  that  when  the  forces  sent 
out  by  the  great  clansmen  appeared,  he  could  not 
control  his  own  men.  He  had  neither  sought  nor 
desired  battle.  Feeling  that  his  highest  duty 


208          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

was  to  the  Emperor,  he  withdrew  from  the  battle, 
taking  no  part  in  it,  and  returned  whence  he  had 
come,  going  into  retirement.  He  knew,  of  course, 
that  the  battle  would  put  him  in  a  false  light,  and  he 
decided  that  the  wisest  and  most  honourable  course 
for  him  to  pursue  was  to  show,  by  his  life  in  retire- 
ment, his  absolute  submission  to  the  Emperor. 

J'ln  order  fully  to  appreciate  why  Yoshinobu 
was  so  ready  to  lay  down  his  power,  the  old  Japanese 
doctrine  of  loyalty  to  the  throne  must  be  fully 
grasped.  This  loyalty  amounts  to  a  religion,  and 
permeates  the  whole  life  of  Japan.  That  is  why 
the  shoguns  who  for  so  many  centuries  ruled  Japan, 
never  attempted  to  usurp  imperial  rank,  but  were 
satisfied,  while  usurping  the  power,  to  preserve  the 
form  of  governing  always  as  vice-regents. 

"It  is  my  personal  belief  that  when  Yoshinobu 
Tokugawa  accepted  the  shogunate  despite  the  op- 
position of  his  trusted  retainers,  he  did  so  with  the 
full  intention  of  restoring  to  the  Imperial  House  its 
rightful  power.  I  used  to  ask  him  about  this,  and 
while  he  never  admitted  it,  he  never  denied  it. 
That  was  characteristic  of  him.  He  was  the  most 
modest  and  self-effacing  of  men — the  last  man  who 
would  have  claimed  for  himself  the  credit  for  per- 
forming a  self-sacrificing  and  heroic  act  of  patriotism. 
For  him  the  performance  of  the  act  was  sufficient." 

Throughout  my  talk  with  Viscount  Shibusawa 
I  felt  in  him  the  passionate  loyalty  of  the  retainer 
to  his  lord.  Where  I  had  wished  for  reminiscences 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  209 

of  a  more  personal  nature,  the  Viscount,  I  could 
see,  thought  of  himself  first  of  all  in  his  relation  to 
the  family  of  Prince  Yoshinobu,  the  last  shogun, 
whose  retainer  he  was.  He  was  not  interested  in 
telling  me  of  his  own  career,  but  he  was  profoundly 
interested  in  seeing  that  I,  being  a  writer,  should 
understand  the  relationship  of  Prince  Yoshinobu 
to  the  Imperial  Restoration.  His  attitude  reminded 
me  of  that  of  a  noble  old  Southern  gentleman,  now 
dead  and  gone,  who  had  been  the  adjutant  of  Robert 
E.  Lee,  and  who  loved  Lee  and  loved  to  talk  about 
him.  When  I  talked  with  him  it  was  the  same.  I 
had  great  difficulty  in  getting  him  to  tell  me  about 
his  own  experiences. 

The  loyalty  of  the  retainer  to  the  family  of  his 
lord  is  also  to  be  seen  in  the  relationship  between 
the  Viscount  and  young  Prince  Keikyu  Tokugawa, 
son  of  Yoshinobu.  After  the  death  of  the  father  the 
Viscount  continued  to  act  as  advisor  to  the  son. 
He  became  his  chief  counsellor,  and  when,  a  few 
years  since,  he  resigned  from  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  First  Bank  of  Japan — the  bank  which  he  founded 
five  years  after  the  Restoration — it  was  young  Prince 
Tokugawa  who  succeeded  to  his  empty  chair. 

The  Prince,  who  is  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Peers,  is  known  in  the  United  States,  having  come 
here  during  the  war  as  representative  of  the  Japanese 
Red  Cross. 

Viscount  Shibusawa  is  also  a  figure  not  unfamiliar 
to  Americans,  having  visited  this  country  several 


210          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

times.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  an  anecdote  il- 
lustrative of  the  prodigious  memory  of  President 
Roosevelt. 

"Eighteen  years  ago,"  he  said,  "when  Mr.  Roose- 
velt was  president,  I  called  upon  him  at  the  White 
House.  We  had  a  pleasant  talk.  He  complimented 
the  behaviour  of  the  Japanese  troops  in  the  Boxer 
trouble,  saying  that  they  were  not  only  brave  but 
orderly  and  well  disciplined.  Then  he  spoke  with 
admiration  of  the  art  of  Japan. 

"I  said  to  him,  'Mr.  President,  I  am  only  a 
banker,  and  I  regret  to  say  that  in  my  country 
banking  is  not  yet  so  highly  developed  as  is  art.' 

'  'Perhaps  it  will  be,'  he  replied,  'by  the  time  we 
meet  again.' 

"Thirteen  years  later,  when  I  called  upon  him 
at  his  home  at  Oyster  Bay,  he  took  up  the  conversa- 
tion where  we  had  left  off. 

"  'The  last  time  I  saw  you,'  he  said,  '  I  did  not  ask 
you  about  banking  in  Japan.  Now  I  want  you  to 
tell  me  all  about  it." 

As  I  was  leaving  the  bungalow  in  the  garden, 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  spent  ii> 
interviewing  the  Viscount,  the  thought  came  to  me 
that  probably  I  should  never  again  talk  with  a 
man  who  had  lived  through  such  transitions.  I 
wanted  a  souvenir,  and  I  wished  it  to  be  something 
emblematic  of  the  changes  witnessed  by  those 
shrewd,  humorous  old  eyes. 

Therefore,  not  without  some  hesitation,  I  asked  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  211 

Viscount  if  he  would  be  so  kind  as  to  put  on  his  two 
samurai  swords  and  let  me  take  his  photograph. 

He  dispatched  a  servant  who  presently  returned 
from  the  house  bearing  the  weapons.  The  Viscount 
tucked  them  through  his  sash,  and  I  snapped  the 
shutter,  hoping  fervently  that  the  late  afternoon 
light  would  prove  to  have  been  adequate. 

As  the  reader  may  see  for  himself,  the  picture 
turned  out  well.  Indeed  it  turned  out  better  than 
I  myself  had  anticipated,  for  besides  the  swords 
and  silken  robes  of  Old  Japan,  there  may  be  seen 
in  it  a  very  modern  note. 

It  was  the  Viscount's  grandson  who,  when  I  showed 
him  the  photograph,  called  attention  to  that. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  with  a  smile,  "you  have  there  the 
swords  of  Old  Japan.  But  the  watch-chain — that  is 
an  anachronism." 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

Viscount  Kaneko's  Home — Some  Souvenirs — A  Rooseveltian 
Memory — Doctor  Bigehw's  Prophecy — A  First  Meeting 
with  Roosevelt — The  Russo-Japanese  War — Luncheons  at  the 
White  House — RooseveWs  Interest  in  the  Samurai  Tradition 
— Sagamore  Hill — Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  Quentin — A  Simple 
Home — The  President  Brings  Blankets — A  Bear  Hunt — 
The  Peace  of  Portsmouth  and  a  Bearskin  for  the  Emperor — A 
Letter  of  RooseveWs  on  Relations  with  Japan — A  Letter  from 
Mid-Africa — " American  Samurai" 

NEVER  while  in  Japan  did  I  feel  quite  so 
close  to  home  as  on  the  several  occasions 
\vhen  I  sat  in  the  study  of  Viscount  Kentaro 
Kaneko,  in  Tokyo,  listening  to  his  reminiscences  and 
looking  at  his  souvenirs  of  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

No  Japanese  has  been  more  widely  known  in  the 
United  States,  or  more  familiar  with  our  ways, 
than  Viscount  Kaneko  (Harvard  '78),  Privy  Coun- 
cilor to  the  Emperor,  chairman  of  the  commission 
which  is  engaged  in  preparing  the  history  of  the 
reign  of  the  late  Emperor  Meiji,  and  president  of 
the  America-Japan  Society  of  Tokyo. 

I  found  him  living  in  a  good-sized  but  not  osten- 
tatious house,  purely  Japanese  in  architecture. 
But  it  was  not  purely  Japanese  in  its  equipment. 
Like  the  houses  of  other  Tokyo  gentlemen  accus- 

212 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  213 

tomed  to  see  much  of  foreigners,  it  had  carpet  over 
the  hall  matting,  rendering  the  removal  of  shoes 
unnecessary,  and  certain  of  its  rooms  were  furnished 
in  the  Occidental  style. 

Such  rooms,  in  Japan,  usually  are  stiff  reception- 
rooms  which  look  as  if  they  were  used  only  when 
visitors  from  abroad  put  in  an  appearance;  but 
Viscount  Kaneko's  study  held  a  homelike  feeling 
which  made  me  think  the  roomVas  frequented  by  the 
master  of  the  house  when  no  guests  were  present. 

On  the  walls  were  framed  photographs  of  notables, 
European  and  American,  with  the  Roosevelt  family 
very  much  to  the  fore,  and  I  noticed  beneath  the 
photograph  of  President  Roosevelt  a  cordial  inscrip- 
tion in  the  familiar  handwriting,  so  honest  and  boy- 
ish— writing  as  unlike  that  of  any  other  great  man 
as  Roosevelt  himself  was  unlike  any  other  great 
man. 

When  I  had  crossed  and  read  the  inscription, 
Viscount  Kaneko  called  my  attention  to  the  frame. 

"That  frame,"  he  said,  "is  made  from  a  piece 
of  Oregon  pine  which  was  brought  among  other 
presents  to  the  Shogun  by  Commodore  Perry.  The 
Emperor  presented  me  with  a  piece  of  the  wood, 
and  I  had  made  from  it  that  frame  and  a  writing  box 
on  which  the  scene  of  Perry's  arrival  is  depicted  in 
gold  lacquer." 

There  was  also  a  photograph  of  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
with  two  of  her  sons,  and  one  of  Quentin  Roosevelt 
as  a  child,  astride  a  pony,  with  an  inscription  to 
the  Viscount's  son  Takemaro,  dated  August  seventh, 


214  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

1905.  In  the  corner  of  the  frame  was  inserted  a 
photograph  which  the  Viscount  had  caused  to  be 
taken  of  Quentin's  grave  in  France. 

Viscount  Kaneko  was  a  student  at  Harvard  when 
Roosevelt  entered  the  university,  but  they  were 
two  years  apart  and  did  not  know  each  other  there. 
Their  first  meeting  occurred  in  Washington  in  1889, 
when  Roosevelt  was  Civil  Service  Commissioner 
and  Viscount  Kaneko  was  returning  to  Japan  after 
having  visited  the  principal  countries  of  Europe 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  parliamentary  forms. 
The  first  Japanese  Parliament  met  in  the  year  follow- 
ing, 1890,  when  Japan  adopted  a  Constitution. 

In  looking  back  upon  my  interviews  with  the 
Viscount  I  find  myself  marvelling  to-day,  as  I  did 
then,  at  the  detailed  accuracy  of  his  memory.  He 
recounted  events  of  fifteen  and  more  years  before 
with  a  vividness  and  an  attention  to  trifles  that  was 
extraordinary.  It  was  as  if  he  had  refreshed  his 
memory  by  reading  from  a  diary. 

"I  had  two  letters  of  introduction  to  Roosevelt," 
he  told  me,  "when  I  went  to  Washington  in  1889. 
One  had  been  given  to  me  by  James  Rryce,  later 
Viscount  Rryce,  who  was  then  in  Gladstone's 
Cabinet.  The  other  I  received  from  my  friend 
Dr.  William  Sturges  Rigelow. 

"When  Doctor  Rigelow  gave  me  the  letter,  he  said: 
'This  will  introduce  you  to  a  man  who  will  some  day 
be  President  of  the  United  States.'  I  always  re- 
membered that  and  watched  Roosevelt's  career 
with  the  more  interest  for  that  reason. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  215 

"On  reaching  Washington  I  called  on  Roosevelt 
at  a  private  boarding  house  where  he  was  living, 
and  he  returned  my  call  next  day.  Naturally 
I  perceived  at  once  that  he  was  a  man  of  extraor- 
dinarily vigorous  mind.  I  enjoyed  him  greatly, 
and  was  pleased  and  interested,  after  my  return 
to  Japan,  to  see  him  steadily  ascending.  He  became 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Colonel  of  the 
Rough  Riders,  Governor  of  New  York.  'Now,' 
I  said  to  myself  on  reading  that  he  had  been  elected 
Governor,  'he  is  on  the  way  to  fulfilling  Doctor 
Bigelow's  prophecy.'  Then  he  became  Vice- 
president,  and  I  thought:  'That  is  too  bad.  They 
have  shelved  him.  He  won't  be  President  after 
all.'  Rut  McKinley  was  assassinated  and  Roosevelt 
came  to  the  White  House. 

"  Early  in  1904,  at  the  time  of  our  war  with  Russia, 
I  was  sent  to  the  United  States  on  an  unofficial 
embassy.  I  went  first  to  New  York,  where  I  re- 
mained for  a  week;  then  to  Washington.  There 
I  called  on  my  old  friend  Mr.  Justice  Holmes  of  the 
Supreme  Court — 'Rrother  Kaneko'  he  used  to  call 
me — requesting  him  to  take  me  to  the  White  House 
to  meet  the  President,  who  I  thought  would  not 
remember  me.  Rut  Justice  Holmes  had  disagreed 
with  Roosevelt  over  the  Northern  Securities  case, 
and  did  not  feel  that  he  was  persona  grata  at  the 
White  House  just  then.  Therefore  I  arranged 
through  our  Minister,  Mr.  Takahira,  for  a  meeting. 

"One  morning  in  May,  1904,  the  Minister  took 
me  to  call  upon  the  President.  Our  appointment 


216  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

was  for  half  past  ten.  We  were  not  kept  waiting 
long.  I  will  never  forget  the  picture  of  Roosevelt 
as  he  quickly  thrust  open  the  door  and  rushed  into 
the  room.  The  Minister  had  no  chance  to  present 
me.  'I  am  delighted  to  see  you  again  Raron!' 
the  President  exclaimed  in  that  wonderfully  hearty 
way  of  his.  And  as  we  shook  hands  he  threw  his 
arm  over  my  shoulder,  demanding:  'Why  did  you 
stay  for  a  week  in  New  York?  Why  didn't  you 
come  and  see  me  right  awayp' 

"During  our  talk,  which  lasted  an  hour,  he  let  me 
see  that  he  was  absolutely  neutral  in  his  official  at- 
titude toward  our  war  with  Russia,  but  nevertheless 
made  me  feel  that  he  had  much  personal  sympathy 
for  Japan.  He  declared  frankly  that  popular  senti- 
ment in  the  United  States  was  favourable  to  Japan, 
and  added  that  the  Russian  Government  had  com- 
plained that  American  army  and  navy  officers  were 
openly  pro-Japanese.  This  had  made  it  necessary 
for  him  to  issue  a  proclamation  of  neutrality.  Rut 
though,  as  President,  he  was  particular  to  be  scrupu- 
lously just  to  both  sides,  I  was  in  no  doubt  as  to 
the  friendliness  of  his  private  sentiments. 

"He  advised  me  not  to  stay  in  Washington, 
but  to  make  my  headquarters  in  New  York,  coming 
over  to  Washington  to  see  him  when  it  was  necessary. 
This  I  did,  and  as  time  went  on,  and  we  became  closer 
friends,  he  often  did  me  the  honour  of  inviting  me 
to  luncheon  en  famille  at  the  White  House. 

"At  one  of  these  luncheons  I  told  him  of  Doctor 
Rigelow's  prophecy,  and  of  how  I  had  watched  him 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  217 

mounting  step  by  step  to  its  fulfilment.  That 
seemed  to  please  him. 

"'Edith,'  he  called  across  the  table  to  Mrs.  Roose- 
velt, 'do  you  hear  that?  Here  is  a  man  who  has 
kept  a  friendly  eye  on  me  from  away  off  in  Japan.' 

"Once  at  one  of  these  intimate  White  House 
luncheons  he  remarked  that  as  President  it  was  neces- 
sary to  preserve  a  certain  style.  '  Coming  to  see  us 
here,'  he  said,  'you  don't  get  an  accurate  idea  of 
what  our  family  life  really  is.  You  must  come  and 
pay  us  a  visit  at  Oyster  Bay  this  summer  when  we 
get  home.  Then  you  will  know  more  about  us.' 

"He  did  not  forget  the  invitation,  but  early  in 
July  1905,  repeated  it  by  telegraph.  I  went  to 
Oyster  Bay  and  stayed  over  night.  It  was  in  many 
ways  a  memorable  experience. 

"He  was  always  greatly  interested  in  our  samurai 
tradition  and  in  the  doctrine  we  call  bushido.  I 
remember  his  asking  me  how  much  money  was  re- 
quired for  the  keeping  up  of  a  samurai's  position. 
I  explained  that  there  were  different  classes  of 
samurai — that  the  shoguns  had  themselves  been  sa- 
murai, with  others  of  various  grades  below  them. 

'"Middle-class  samurai,'  I  said,  'do  not  need  a 
great  deal  of  money.  They  require  only  enough 
for  dress  to  be  worn  on  social  occasions,  for  the 
education  of  their  families,  and  the  maintenance  of 
their  political  position,  whatever  it  may  be.  They 
need  no  money  for  pleasures  or  extravagances.' 

"'Just  the  same,'  the  President  replied,  'a  man 
doesn't  want  to  fall  behind  his  ancestors,  materially 


218  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

or  otherwise.  Take  my  own  case:  I  want  to  keep 
my  place  as  my  forbears  kept  theirs.  I  desire 
neither  more  nor  less  than  what  my  father  had.  I 
want  my  children  to  be  able  to  grow  up  in  this  old 
home  at  Oyster  Bay  just  as  the  children  of  my 
generation  did.'  Then  he  began  to  ask  me  more 
about  the  details  of  samurai  life. 

"'What  about  doctor's  bills?'  he  asked.  'You 
didn't  mention  that  item  in  estimating  the  expense 
of  living.' 

"I  told  him  of  a  curious  custom  we  used  to  have. 
In  each  samurai  class  there  were  families  of  doctors 
who  were  endowed  by  the  Government,  the  profession 
being  passed  down  from  father  to  son.  These 
doctors  took  care  of  samurai  families  of  the  rank 
corresponding  to  their  own,  and  charged  nothing  for 
so  doing.  Twice  a  year,  in  January  and  July,  when 
it  is  customary  to  give  presents,  presents  were  given 
to  the  doctors.  They  also  took  care  of  the  poor  as 
a  matter  of  charity. 

"That  interested  him,  too.  He  was  always  in- 
tensely interested  in  the  samurai,  because  our 
samurai  virtues  were  virtues  of  a  kind  he  particu- 
larly admired — courage,  stoicism,  love  of  duty  and 
of  country. 

"We  sat  on  the  wide  verandah,  overlooking  the 
lawn  sloping  down  toward  Long  Island  Sound. 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  sat  with  us,  knitting.  It  was  July, 
but  she  was  knitting  mittens.  Presently  a  maid 
came  and  spoke  to  her,  and  she  left  us. 

"When  she  came  back  she  said  to  me,  'Baron, 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  219 

I  want  to  ask  a  favour  of  you.  Quentin  has  been 
crying.  He  took  great  pains  to  clean  his  pony 
to-day,  to  show  it  to  you,  and  we  promised  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  do  so.  He  has  been  riding 
around  the  lawn  hoping  you  would  notice  him,' 

"Of  course  I  sent  for  Quentin,  and  he  appeared 
proudly  upon  his  pony.  I  asked  him  to  ride  around 
the  lawn,  which  he  did. 

"'You  ride  splendidly!^  I  said,  when  he  drew 
up  again  before  the  porch/ 

"'Do  you  think  so?'  he  asked,  evidently  much 
pleased. 

"  'Indeed  I  do!'  I  said,  and  asked  him  to  go  around 
the  lawn  again. 

"When  he  came  back  I  told  him  about  my  son, 
who  was  just  his  age.  'I  shall  have  him  learn  to 
ride,'  I  said,  'and  when  he  can  ride  as  well  as  you 
can  I  shall  have  his  picture  taken  on  a  pony  and 
send  it  to  you.' 

"That,"  continued  the  Viscount,  "is  how  we 
happen  to  have  this  picture  of  Quentin  on  his  pony. 
He  sent  it  to  my  son,  and  my  son  sent  him  a  picture. 
I  always  like  to  think  of  the  good-will  there  was 
between  those  two  boys — an  American  boy  and  a 
Japanese  boy  who  had  never  seen  each  other. 

"That  night  we  sat  talking  in  the  drawing  room 
which  is  to  the  left  of  the  hall  as  you  go  into  the 
house.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  still  knitting  mittens 
for  the  children.  It  was  all  wonderfully  simple 
and  homelike.  I  could  hardly  believe  that  I  was 
in  the  home  of  the  head  of  a  great  nation.  At 


220  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

that  time  the  house  was  lighted  with  kerosene  lamps, 
yet  in  Japan  I  had  been  using  electric  light  for  fifteen 
years. 

"At  about  ten  o'clock  Mrs.  Roosevelt  said  good- 
night to  us  and  retired.  Before  she  went  upstairs 
she  moved  about,  fastening  windows  and  putting 
out  lamps  in  parts  of  the  house  in  which  they  would 
not  be  needed  any  more.  Then  she  brought  candles 
and  matches  so  that  we  should  have  them  when  we 
were  ready  to  go  to  bed. 

"After  an  hour's  talk  about  the  war,  which  was 
still  raging,  the  President  rose  and  lit  the  candles. 
Then  he  put  out  the  remaining  lamps,  and  conducted 
me  upstairs  to  my  room.  It  was  a  cool  night.  He  felt 
of  the  coverings  on  my  bed,  and  decided  that  I  might 
need  another  blanket.  Til  get  you  one,'  he  said, 
leaving  the  room.  And  in  a  minute  or  two  he  reap- 
peared with  a  blanket  over  his  shoulder. 

"'Come,'  he  said,  as  he  put  it  on  the  bed,  'and 
I'll  show  you  the  bathroom.'  I  went  with  him. 
'Here's  soap,'  said  he,  'and  here  are  clean  towels.' 
Then  he  took  me  back  to  my  room  and  wished  me  a 
good  night. 

"As  for  me,  I  was  fascinated,  almost  dazed.  I 
kept  saying  to  myself,  'This  man  who  has  lighted  me 
upstairs  with  a  candle,  and  carried  me  a  blanket, 
and  shown  me  where  to  find  soap  and  towels,  is  the 
President  of  the  United  States!  The  President  of 
the  United  States  has  done  all  these  things  for  me. 
It  is  the  greatest  honour  a  man  could  have.' 

"Earlier  in  the  same  year,  before  the  President 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  221 

moved  from  the  White  House  to  Oyster  Bay,  he 
went  bear  hunting.  That  was  just  before  Admiral 
Togo's  victory  over  the  Russian  fleet,  in  the  Sea 
of  Japan. 

"Before  leaving,  the  President  sent  for  me  and 
told  me,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Taft,  who  was 
Secretary  of  War,  that  if  anything  of  importance 
should  come  up  during  his  absence,  I  was  to  see 
Mr.  Taft  about  it,  and  that  in  the  event  of  its  being 
anything  absolutely  vital,  Mr.  Taft  would  know 
how  to  reach  him. 

"Mr.  Taft  showed  me  a  photograph  hanging  on 
the  wall  of  the  President's  office,  showing  the  wild 
country  to  which  the  President  was  going  on  his 
hunting  trip. 

"I  remarked  playfully  to  him  that  I  thought  it 
advisable,  at  that  time,  that  the  President  refrain 
from  killing  bears,  whatever  other  animals  he  might 
see  fit  to  slay. 

"Roosevelt,  sitting  at  his  desk,  overheard  me. 
*  'What's  that  you  are  saying?'  he  asked. 

"I  repeated  what  I  had  said  to  Mr.  Taft. 
"Why  do  you  think  I  should  not  kill  bears?' 
demanded  the  President. 

"'Well,  Mr.  President,'  I  replied,  *y°u  know  that 
the  various  nations  have  their  special  symbols 
in  the  animal  kingdom.  America  has  the  eagle, 
Britain  the  lion,  France  the  cock,  and  Russia,  well ' 

"He  got  up,  laughing  and  came  over  to  me. 
"Nevertheless,'  he  said,  *I  shall  go  right  ahead 
and  kill  bears!' 


222          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"Before  he  left  on  that  hunting  trip  I  went  to  see 
him  and  asked  as  a  special  favour  that  he  give  me 
the  skin  of  one  of  the  bears  he  should  kill. 

"  He  refused,  saying  that  if  he  were  to  start  present- 
ing trophies  to  his  friends  they  would  all  be  after  him. 

"At  that  I  said  to  him,  'If  I  were  asking  this  for 
myself,  Mr.  President,  I  would  not  pursue  the  matter 
further,  but  I  am  not  asking  it  for  myself.  I  want 
that  bear  skin  for  our  Emperor.' 

'"Very  well,  then,'  he  said.     'You  shall  have  it.' 

"He  went  off  on  his  hunting  trip,  and  came  back. 
Then  followed  the  negotiations  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  between  Japan  and  Russia,  and  the 
Portsmouth  Peace  Conference,  through  which  Roose- 
velt brought  about  the  end  of  the  war. 

"In  August  of  the  same  year,  1905,  I  received 
this  letter  from  him." 

The  Viscount  handed  me  the  letter  to  read.  It 
was  as  follows: 

Oyster  Bay,  N,  Y,. 

August  30,  1905. 
Personal 
MY  DEAR  BARON  KANEKO: 

I  cannot  too  highly  state  my  appreciation  of  the  wisdom 
and  magnanimity  of  Japan,  which  make  a  fit  crown  to  the  prowess 
of  her  soldiers.  Will  you  tell  the  Emperor  that  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  sending  him  by  you  a  bear  skin?  I  want  you  soon 
to  come  out  here  and  take  lunch. 

Sincerely  yours, 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

"Later,"  the  Viscount  went  on,  "I  was  asked  by 
the  President  to  come  to  Oyster  Bay  and  select  one 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN,          223 

of  the  skins.  I  however  did  not  wish  to  make  the 
selection,  so  the  President  did  that,  picking  out  the 
largest  skin  of  all  and  giving  it  to  me  for  the  Emperor 
Meiji. 

"His  Majesty  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  skin, 
not  only  because  it  was  a  trophy  from  the  President 
himself,  but  because  of  the  emblematic  nature  of 
the  gift.  That  bearskin  was  in  his  library  at  the 
Imperial  Palace  in  Tokyo  as  long  as  he  lived." 

One  of  the  most  important  Roosevelt  letters 
shown  me  by  Viscount  Kaneko  was  on  the  subject 
of  Japanese-American  relations.  As  this  letter 
is  not  included  in  the  two-volume  collection  of 
Roosevelt  correspondence  compiled  in  such  masterly 
fashion  by  Joseph  Rucklin  Bishop,  Roosevelt's 
literary  executor,  I  have  asked  the  permission  of 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  of  Mr.  Bishop  to  quote  it  here. 

It  was  as  follows: 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE 
WASHINGTON 

May  23,  1907. 
Confidential 
MY  DEAR  BARON  KANEKO: 

I  much  appreciate  your  thought  of  Archie.  The  little  fellow 
was  very  sick  but  is  now  all  right.  His  mother  and  I  have  just 
had  him  on  a  short  trip  in  the  country. 

I  was  delighted  to  meet  General  Kuroki  and  Admiral  Ijum 
with  their  staffs.  General  Kuroki  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  men  living.  Through  his  interpreter,  a  very  able 
young  staff  officer,  I  spoke  to  him  a  little  about  our  troubles 
on  the  Pacific  Slope. 


224          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Nothing  during  my  Presidency  has  given  me  more  concern 
than  these  troubles.  History  often  teaches  by  example,  and  I 
think  we  can  best  understand  just  what  the  situation  is,  and 
how  it  ought  to  be  met,  by  taking  into  account  the  change  in 
general  international  relations  during  the  last  two  or  three 
centuries. 

During  this  period  all  the  civilized  nations  have  made  great 
progress.  During  the  first  part  of  it  Japan  did  not  appear  in  the 
general  progress,  but  for  the  last  half  century  she  has  gone  ahead 
so  much  faster  than  any  other  nation  that  I  think  we  can  fairly 
say  that,  taking  the  last  three  centuries  together,  her  advance 
has  been  on  the  whole  greater  than  that  of  any  other  nation. 
But  all  have  advanced,  and  especially  in  the  way  hi  which  the 
people  of  each  treat  people  of  other  nationalities.  Two  cen- 
turies ago  there  was  the  greatest  suspicion  and  malevolence 
exhibited  by  all  the  people,  high  and  low,  of  each  European 
country,  for  all  the  people,  high  and  low,  of  every  other  European 
country,  with  but  few  exceptions.  The  cultivated  people  of 
the  different  countries,  however,  had  already  begun  to  treat 
with  one  another  on  good  terms.  But  when,  for  instance,  the 
Huguenots  were  exiled  from  France,  and  great  numbers  of 
Huguenot  workmen  went  to  England,  their  presence  excited  the 
most  violent  hostility,  manifesting  itself  even  in  mob  violence, 
among  the  English  workmen.  The  men  were  closely  allied 
by  race  and  religion,  they  had  practically  the  same  type  of 
ancestral  culture,  and  yet  they  were  unable  to  get  on  together. 
Two  centuries  have  passed,  the  world  has  moved  forward, 
and  now  there  could  be  no  repetition  of  such  hostilities.  In 
the  same  way  a  marvellous  progress  has  been  made  in  the  re- 
lations of  Japan  with  the  Occidental  nations.  Fifty  years  ago 
you  and  I  and  those  like  us  could  not  have  travelled  in  one  an- 
other's countries.  We  should  have  had  very  unpleasant  and 
possibly  very  dangerous  experiences.  But  the  same  progress 
that  has  been  going  on  as  between  nations  in  Europe  and  their 
descendants  in  America  and  Australia,  has  also  been  going  on 
as  between  Japan  and  the  Occidental  nations.  In  these  times, 
then,  gentlemen,  all  educated  people,  members  of  professions 
and  the  like,  get  on  so  well  together  that  they  not  only  travel 
each  in  the  other's  country,  but  associate  on  the  most  intimate 
terms.  Among  the  friends  whom  I  especially  value  I  include 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  225 

a  number  of  Japanese  gentlemen.  But  the  half  century  has 
been  too  short  a  time  for  the  advance  to  include  the  labouring 
classes  of  the  two  countries,  as  between  themselves. 

Exactly  as  the  educated  classes  in  Europe,  among  the  several 
nations,  grew  to  be  able  to  associate  together  generations  before 
it  was  possible  for  such  association  to  take  place  among  the  men 
who  had  no  such  advantages  of  education,  so  it  is  evident  we 
must  not  press  too  fast  in  bringing  the  labouring  classes  of  Japan 
and  America  together.  Already  in  these  fifty  years  we  have 
completely  attained  the  goal  as  between  the  educated  and  the 
intellectual  classes  of  the  two  countries.  We  must  be  content 
to  wait  another  generation  before  we  shall  have  made  progress 
enough  to  permit  the  same  close  intimacy  between  the  classes 
who  have  had  less  opportunity  for  cultivation,  and  whose  lives 
are  less  easy,  so  that  each  has  to  feel,  in  earning  its  daily  bread, 
the  pressure  of  the  competition  of  the  other.  I  have  become 
convinced  that  to  try  to  move  too  far  forward  all  at  once  is  to 
incur  jeopardy  of  trouble.  This  is  just  as  true  of  one  nation  as 
of  the  other.  If  scores  of  thousands  of  American  miners  went 
to  Saghalin,  or  of  American  mechanics  to  Japan  or  Formosa, 
trouble  would  almost  certainly  ensue.  Just  in  the  same  way 
scores  of  thousands  of  Japanese  labourers,  whether  agricultural 
or  industrial,  are  certain,  chiefly  because  of  the  pressure  caused 
thereby,  to  be  a  source  of  trouble  if  they  should  come  here  or 
to  Australia.  I  mention  Australia  because  it  is  a  part  of  the 
British  Empire,  because  the  Australians  have  discriminated  against 
continental  immigration  in  favour  of  immigration  from  the 
British  Isles,  and  have  in  effect  discriminated  to  a  certain  degree 
in  favour  of  immigration  from  England  and  Scotland  as  against 
immigration  from  Ireland. 

My  dear  Baron,  the  business  of  statesmen  is  to  try  constantly 
to  keep  international  relations  better,  to  do  away  with  causes  of 
friction,  and  secure  as  nearly  ideal  justice  as  actual  conditions 
will  permit.  I  think  that  with  this  object  in  view  and  facing 
conditions  not  as  I  would  like  them  to  be,  but  as  they  are,  the 
best  thing  to  do  is  to  prevent  the  labouring  classes  of  either 
country  from  going  in  any  numbers  to  the  other.  In  a  genera- 
tion I  believe  all  need  of  such  prevention  will  have  passed  away; 
and  at  any  rate  this  leaves  free  the  opportunity  for  all  those  fit 
to  profit  by  intercourse,  to  go  each  to  the  other's  country.  I 


226          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

have  just  appointed  a  commission  on  general  immigration  which 
will  very  possibly  urge  restrictive  measures  as  regards  European 
immigration,  and  which  I  am  in  hopes  will  be  able  to  bring 
about  a  method  by  which  the  result  we  have  in  view  will  be 
obtained  with  the  minimum  friction. 
With  warm  regards  to  the  Baroness,  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
Baron  Kentaro  Kaneko, 

Tokyo,  Japan. 

The  foregoing  letter  may  well  be  studied  at  this 
time  when,  through  lack  of  the  kind  of  statesmanship 
shown  by  Roosevelt,  the  Californian  situation  has 
become  worse  instead  of  better. 

Another  letter  shown  me  by  Viscount  Kaneko  was 
written  in  pencil  on  a  large  sheet  of  yellow  paper 
torn  from  a  pad.  It  came  from  the  African  jungle, 
and  ran  as  follows: 

Mid-Africa 

Sept.  10th,  1909. 
MY  DEAR  BARON,* 

I  have  no  facilities  for  writing  here;  but  I  must  just  send  you  a 
line  of  thanks  for  your  welcome  note.  I  have  had  a  most 
interesting  trip;  my  son  Kermit  has  done  particularly  well.  He 
has  the  spirit  of  a  samurai!  I  greatly  hope  to  visit  Japan; 
but  when  it  may  be  possible  I  can  not  say. 
With  warm  regards  to  the  Viscountess,*  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

The  last  letter  of  the  series  was  written  on  the 
stationery  of  the  Kansas  City  Star,  of  which  Roosevelt 

*Despite  the  fact  that  Roosevelt  knew  that  Kaneko  had  been  made 
a  Viscount  he  addressed  him  in  this  letter  by  his  old  title. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  227 

was  an  associate  editor  with  an  office  in  New  York. 
The  letter  read: 

New  York,  Aug.  21,  1918. 
MY  DEAR  VISCOUNT  KANEKO: 

I  thank  you  fcr  your  letter;  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  as  much 
touched  by  it  as  I  was.  Remember  to  give  your  son  a  letter 
to  us  when  he  comes  here  to  go  to  Harvard.  One  of  our  news- 
papers, the  Chicago  Tribune,  when  the  news  was  brought  that 
Quentin  was  dead  and  two  of  his  brothers  wounded,  spoke 
of  my  four  sons  as  "American  samurai."  I  was  proud  of  the 
reference!  As  you  say,  all  of  us  who  are  born  are  doomed  to  die. 
No  man  is  fit  to  live  who  is  afraid  to  die  for  a  great  cause.  My 
sorrow  for  Quentin  is  outweighed  by  my  pride  in  him. 
Faithfully  your  friend, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

The  foregoing,  written  less  than  five  months  before 
Colonel  Roosevelt's  death,  was  the  last  letter  of  the 
series  shown  me  by  Viscount  Kaneko. 

Reading  it  I  was  reminded  of  what  Colonel  Roose- 
velt said  to  me  as  he  lay  on  his  bed  in  the  hospital  the 
last  time  I  saw  him. 

Speaking  of  his  four  sons  in  the  war  he  said: 

"We  have  been  an  exceptionally  united  family. 
Come  what  may,  we  have  many  absolutely  satisfying 
years  together  to  look  back  upon." 


CHAPTER    XIX 

Placidity  and  Sodans — Talk  and  Tea — American  Business 
Methods  versus  Japanese — The  American  Housekeeper  in 
Nippon — Japan's  Problem — Population  and  Food — The 
Militarists — Land-Grabb  ing — L  iberalism — Em  igrat  ion — In- 
dustrialism— Examples  of  Inefficiency — "Public  Futilities'1 
— Comedies  of  the  Telephone — The  Cables 

ELSEWHERE  I  have  said  that  the  Japanese 
are   generally   hard    workers;    wherefore    it 
may  seem  paradoxical  to  add  that  they  are 
also  leisurely  workers.     But  the  paradox  is  not  so 
great  as  it  would  seem.     The  hours  of  work  are 
longer  in  Japan  than  in  most  other  countries,  but 
work  is  not  so  vigorously  pressed. 

Without  being  in  the  least  lazy,  the  Japanese  take 
their  time  to  everything.  With  masters  and  ser- 
vants, employers  and  workmen,  it  is  much  the  same. 
They  appear  placid.  They  hold  sodans,  conferring 
and  arranging  matters  with  terrible  precision.  If 
you  attempt  to  use  the  telephone  you  are  prepared 
for  a  long  struggle  and  a  long  wait.  The  clerks  in 
the  cable  office  act  as  if  the  cable  had  just  been 
laid — as  if  your  cablegram  were  the  first  one  they 
had  ever  been  called  upon  to  send,  and  they  didn't 
quite  know  how  to  handle  it,  or  how  much  to 
charge.  Often  they  are  unable  to  make  change. 

228 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  229 

Sometimes  even  the  railway  ticket  agents  have  no 
change.  Business  conferences  are  conducted  over 
successive  cups  of  pale  green  tea,  and  I  am  told 
that  it  is  customary  to  begin  them  with  talk  on 
any  topic  other  than  the  main  one.  In  the  lexicon 
of  Japanese  trade  and  commerce  there  is  no  such 
word  as  "snappy." 

The  hustling  American  business  man  who  tries  to 
rush  things  through  often  arouses  the  Japanese  bus- 
iness man's  suspicion.  What  is  he  after?  Why 
is  he  in  such  a  hurry?  There  must  be  something 
behind  it  all.  It  is  necessary  to  be  particularly 
careful  in  dealing  with  such  a  man.  Negotiations 
drag  and  drag  until  the  American,  if  he  be  of  nervous 
disposition,  is  driven  nearly  wild.  And  sometimes 
this  results  in  his  making  a  bad  bargain  merely  for 
the  sake  of  getting  through. 

"I'm  sorry  I  ever  came  to  the  Far  East!"  he  will 
declare  bitterly.  "I  feel  that  I  am  getting  nothing 
accomplished  over  here — nothing!"  Then  he  will 
tell  you  what  is  the  trouble  with  the  Japanese: 

"They  are  used  to  playing  only  with  white  chips!" 

The  American  housekeeper  in  Japan,  if  she  knows 
what  nerves  are,  may  have  similar  difficulties.  Her 
Japanese  servants  will  conduct  her  menage  well 
enough  if  she  lets  them  do  it  in  their  Japanese  way, 
but  if  she  attempts  to  run  her  home  as  she  would 
run  it  in  the  United  States,  she  is  lost.  It  can't  be 
done.  I  know  of  an  American  woman  who  could 
not  get  a  cook  because  her  efforts  to  Americanize 
her  household  had  given  her  a  bad  reputation  with 


\ 


230  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

the  Cook's  Guild.  Another  could  get  no  sewing 
done,  for  a  like  reason.  For  all  the  servants  and 
working  people  have  their  guilds,  and  news  travels. 
Thus  many  an  American  housekeeper  in  Japan  has  be- 
come a  nervous  wreck. 

Yet  on  the  other  hand,  numbers  of  American 
business  men  and  their  wives  enjoy  Japanese  life,  and 
only  come  home  when  it  is  necessary  to  give  their 
children  an  American  education.  The  men  are 
successful  and  their  homes  are  comfortable  and  well 
run.  But  always  you  will  find  that  they  are  people 
of  calm  disposition:  people  having  sufficient  balance 
to  adjust  themselves  to  the  customs  of  the  country. 

The  essential  point  seems  to  be  that  the  Japanese 
view  life  in  longer  perspective  than  we  do.  Where 
we  see  ourselves  as  individuals  having  certain 
things  to  accomplish  in  a  rather  short  life,  they  see 
themselves  as  mere  links  in  an  endless  family  chain. 
We  are  conscious  of  our  parents  and  our  children 
but  they  are  conscious  of  ancestors,  reaching  back  to 
the  mists  of  antiquity,  and  of  a  posterity  destined  to 
people  the  nebulous  vaults  of  the  far-distant  future. 

But  while,  from  a  philosophical  standpoint,  this 
way  of  looking  at  life  may  be  quite  as  good  as  ours, 
or  even  better,  still  I  believe  it  tends  to  handicap 
the  Japanese  in  meeting  the  urgent  material  problems 
by  which  they  are  confronted.  And  though  these 
problems  are  not  so  terrible  as  those  of  war-racked 
Europe,  they  are,  if  measured  by  any  other  standard, 
terrible  enough. 

Japan's  fundamental  problem — the  one  out  of 


: 


•^  -ww 


Tai-no-ura — Tiny  houses  strewn  about  the  margin  of  the 
sand,  fishing  boats  drawn  up  in  rows,  and  swarthy  men  and 
women  bustling  about  among  the  nets  and  baskets 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  231 

which  grow  all  other  Japanese  problems  in  which  the 
world  is  interested — is,  as  I  have  said  before,  that 
of  great  density  of  population  coupled  with  an 
inadequate  supply  of  food  and  raw  materials.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  population  of  Japan  proper  was  less 
than  33,000,000.  To-day  it  is  more  than  57,000,000. 
There  has  been  an  increase  in  five  decades  of  more 
than  75  per  cent.,  but  there  has  been  no  corre- 
sponding increase  in  the  country's  arable  land. 

In  Japan  itself  there  have  been  various  theories  as 
to  how  this  problem  should  be  met.  The  militarists, 
who  are  still  very  powerful,  have  in  the  past  un- 
doubtedly favoured  what  we  have  come  lately  to  call 
the  Prussian  system,  the  grabbing  system:  the  system 
which  has  been  followed  in  the  Far  East  not  by 
Japan  alone  but  by  England,  Russia,  France,  and  Ger- 
many— and  by  the  United  States  (if  in  a  form  some- 
what more  moderate)  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and 
the  Philippines. 

"  If  the  others  do  it,"  the  Japanese  militarists  have 
argued, ' '  why  shouldn't  we ?  Why  shouldn't  we,  who 
need  additional  territory  so  much  more  than  they  do, 
grab  on  the  continent  of  Asia  for  land  to  which  our 
surplus  population  may  be  sent,  and  from  which  we 
may  get  food  and  raw  materials?" 

To  which  the  other  nations  answer:  "Unfortu- 
nately for  you,  you  came  along  too  late.  The  good 
old  grabbing  days  are  gone.  The  world  is  radiant 
with  a  new  international  morality,  and  woe  be 
unto  those  who  offend  against  it!  Germany  tried 
it — see  what  happened  to  her!" 


232  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Japan  did  see  what  happened  to  Germany  and  the" 
lesson  was  not  wasted  on  her.  Nor  was  the  least 
striking  part  of  the  lesson  contained,  in  America's 
exhibition  of  military  might.  Anc}  truth  to  tell, 
Japan  needed  such  a  lesson;  for  her  victories  over 
China  and  Russia  had  put  her  militarists  in  th8^ 
ascendant,  and  had  made  them,  and  perhaps  the 
bulk  of  their  countrymen  also,  over-confident,  'with 
the  result  that  Japan  occasionally  rattled  the  sabre 
in  the  Far  East  somewhat  as  iGermany  was  wont 
to  do  in  Europe. 

But  although  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Japanese 
militarists  exhibited  undue  aggressiveness  in  China 
and  Siberia  during  the  late  war,  and  although  their 
actions  since  have  not  been  altogether  satisfactory 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  there  is  good  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  their  old-time  dream  of  vast  territorial 
aggrandizement  has  diminished,  even  though  it  may 
not  have  entirely  faded  from  the  minds  of  some  of 
them. 

This  new  tendency  toward  moderation  is  due 
to  the  war's  lesson  and  to  the  marked  growth  of 
liberal  and  anti-militarist  sentiment  among  the 
Japanese  people.  The  militarists,  though  they 
still  control  the  Government,  are  less  aggressive 
than  they  used  to  be,  both  because  the  Japanese 
public  protests  when  too  much  aggressiveness  is 
shown,  and  because  the  more  intelligent  members  of 
the  militaristic  group  now  realize  that  if  Japan 
were  to  bring  on  a  great  war  she  would  inevitably 
be  ruined.  So,  while  the  power  and  aggressiveness 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  233 

of  this  dangerous  element  slowly  wane,  the  liberal 
element,  led  by  some  of  the  sanest  and  ablest  men 
in  Japan,  steadily  gains  strength. 

The  outcome,  of  this  struggle  between  the  ad- 
vocates of  force  and  those  of  fair  dealing  will,  in 
my  judgment,  be  determined  largely  by  the  course 
pursued  fry  other  nations.  If,  as  we  all  hope,  a  new 
order  of  things  is  to  grow  out  of  the  late  war,  then 
within  a  few  years  I  believe  we  shall  see  the  liberal 
group  running  Japfcn.  But  if,  on  the  contrary, 
the  world  backslides,  and  the  old  selfish  system 
is  resumed,  then  the  Japanese  militarists  will  say 
to  the  people:  "Well,  you  see  that  we  were  right 
after  all!" 

But  however  these  matters  may  turn  out,  I  do  not 
believe,  that  Japan  will  ever  fully  settle  her  surplus 
population  problem  by  means  of  emigration,  whether 
to  annexed  territory,  or  to  other  countries.  The 
Japanese  do  not  like  to  leave  home.  There  are 
only  about  300,000  Japanese  in  China,  for  example, 
and  they  have  not  colonized  to  nearly  the  extent  they 
might  have  in  Siberia.  If  they  do  leave  home  they 
seek  mild  climates,  but  they  are  now  barred  from 
colonizing  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Aus- 
tralia and  even  when  they  settle  in  Mexico  or  South 
America  one  sees  protests  in  our  press.  Yet  if 
Japan's  population  is  to  remain  static  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  her  people  must  leave  the  islands  every 
year.  All  considered,  it  seems  more  than  improbable 
that  they  will  ever  emigrate  in  such  a  wholesale 
way. 


234          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

By  what  means,  then,  is  the  problem  to  be  solved? 

Apparently  the  leaders  of  the  small  group  that 
governs  Japan  came,  some  years  ago,  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  best  means  for  solving  their  difficul- 
ties lay  in  turning  Japan  into  an  industrial  country. 
They  determined  to  manufacture  goods,  export 
them,  and  with  the  proceeds  pay  for  imports  of 
raw  materials  and  food — in  short,  to  adopt  the 
plan  which  England  began  to  follow  nearly  a  century 
ago,  and  which  Belgium  has  also  followed.  Eng- 
land's situation  was  in  many  respects  like  that  of 
Japan,  for  there  were  certain  essential  raw  materials 
which  she  did  not  have  either  at  home  or  in  her 
possessions;  and  like  Japan  she  is  unable  to  feed 
herself.  With  Belgium  the  situation  was  even  worse 
than  with  England.  Yet  through  industrializing 
themselves  both  countries  have  prospered  greatly. 
Is  it  not  then  logical  to  suppose  that  by  following  a 
similar  course  Japan  will  likewise  prosper?  Recent 
statistics  seem,  moreover,  to  indicate  that  with  in- 
dustrialization the  birth-rate  tends  to  decline. 

In  attempting  a  great  industrial  programme  Japan 
has  two  advantages:  she  has  abundant  cheap  labour 
and  a  short  haul  to  the  great  markets  of  Asia. 
Geographically  we  are  her  nearest  competitor  for 
Asiatic  trade,  yet  we  have  at  the  very  least,  four 
thousand  miles  farther  to  carry  our  goods.  Obvi- 
ously this  is  an  immense  disadvantage  to  us,  and  we 
are  further  handicapped  by  the  high  cost  of  our 
labour. 

Having  us  at  so  great  a  disadvantage  in  the  matter 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  235 

of  commerce  with  Asia,  it  would  seem  that  Japan 
should  have  little  difficulty  in  securing  for  herself 
the  lion's  share  of  the  Asiatic  trade. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Japan  has  as  yet 
become  sufficiently  industrialized  to  solve  her  prob- 
lem. She  must  become  a  much  greater  manufactur- 
ing and  exporting  nation  than  she  now  is.  And 
in  order  to  accomplish  that  she  must  greatly  improve 
in  one  particular:  she  must  master  much  more 
thoroughly  than  she  has  so  far  mastered  them,  the 
horrid  arts  of  "efficiency." 

I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  the  Japanese  are 
never  efficient,  but  only  that  they  are  not  always  so 
efficient  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  as  they  must  be- 
come. I  am  aware,  now,  that  I  expected  too  much 
of  them  in  this  particular.  Reports  of  their  aston- 
ishing military  efficiency  at  the  time  of  their  war  with 
Russia,  caused  me  to  think  of  them  almost  as  super- 
men. And  they  are  not  that.  Nor  is  any  other 
race. 

It  may  be  true  that  in  military  matters  they  are 
highly  efficient.  Probably  they  are.  My  own 
observation  as  a  traveller  on  their  ships  convinces 
me  that  they  are  efficient  on  the  sea,  and  this  opinion 
is  supported  by  what  American  naval  officers  have 
told  me  of  their  navy  and  their  naval  men.  I  visited 
a  huge  cotton  mill  near  Tokyo  which  was  clearly 
a  first-class  institution  of  the  kind;  also  I  was  much 
struck,  in  going  through  a  penitentiary,  by  the  evi- 
dences of  their  understanding  of  modern  and  en- 
lightened practice  in  the  conduct  of  penal  establish- 


236  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

ments;  and  I  might  go  on  with  a  list  of  other  institu- 
tions which  impressed  me  favourably. 

But  that  is  not  the  side  I  wish  here  to  bring  out. 
On  the  contrary,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  high  degree  of  efficiency  shown  by  the 
Japanese  in  certain  instances  serves  but  to  empha- 
size their  widespread  inefficiency  in  others. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  spoke  of  the  fact  that  in 
Japan  one  sees  three  men  instead  of  two  in  the  cab 
of  a  locomotive,  that  hand-carts  are  used  for  water- 
ing city  streets,  and  that  more  servants  are  required 
there  than  here  in  a  house  of  given  size.  These  are 
but  minor  items  in  the  wholesale  waste  of  labour. 
It  is  as  if  Japan  said  to  herself:  "I  have  all  these 
people  to  look  after  and  I  must  put  as  many  of 
them  as  possible  on  every  job."  And  that,  in  my 
judgment,  is  not  the  way  Japan  should  look  at  it. 
Instead  of  putting  on  every  job  more  people  than  are 
actually  needed,  she  should  endeavour  to  develop 
her  industries  to  such  a  point  that  there  will  be  a 
full,  honest  day's  work  for  everyone.  For,  of  course, 
her  labour  wastage  keeps  up  her  manufacturing  and 
operating  costs. 

An  example  of  the  way  time  is  wasted  may  be  seen 
wherever  railroad  gangs  are  at  work.  They  swing 
their  picks  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  song,  and  the 
rhythm  is  taken  from  the  slowest  man.  Wastage 
is  also  exhibited  in  the  way  a  house  is  built.  They 
build  the  framework  of  the  roof  upon  the  ground. 
Then  they  take  it  apart.  Then  they  go  up  and 
put  it  together  all  over  again,  in  place.  A  whole 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  237 

house  is  constructed  in  this  way.  The  parts  are 
not  fashioned  on  the  premises  as  the  building  goes 
up,  but  are  made  elsewhere  and  brought  to  the  actual 
scene  of  building  to  be  fitted  together.  The  tiles  are 
fastened  to  the  roof  with  mud,  but  instead  of  carry- 
ing this  mud  up  in  bulk  they  toss  it  up  from  hand 
to  hand,  six  men  forming  a  chain  for  the  purpose. 

Or  again,  to  cite  a  very  simple  example  of  domestic 
inefficiency,  consider  their  method  of  washing  a 
kimono.  Instead  of  laundering  the  garment  all 
at  once,  they  rip  it  apart,  wash  the  pieces  separately, 
dry  them  on  a  board,  and  sew  them  together  again. 

In  factory  management  also  one  sometimes  finds 
the  most  surprising  inefficiency.  I  know  of  a  great 
manufacturing  plant  in  Japan  which,  if  you  were 
to  go  through  it,  you  would  call  thoroughly  modern. 
The  buildings  are  modern,  the  machinery  is  modern. 
But  there  is  one  thing  missing,  and  it  is  a  vital  thing. 
The  plant  stands  a  good  half  mile  from  the  railway 
line;  coal  and  raw  materials  are  transported  from 
car  to  factory  in  carts,  or  in  baskets  carried  on  the 
backs  of  coolies,  and  the  finished  product  is  removed 
in  like  manner. 

Though  the  cost  of  labour  in  Japan  was  trebled 
after  the  war,  wages  are  still  low  as  compared  with 
other  countries.  But  this  fact,  which  should  be 
taken  advantage  of  in  the  struggle  for  world  trade, 
is  too  often  used  only  as  an  excuse  for  such  waste  of 
labour  as  I  have  pointed  out.  And  it  is  because 
of  this  and  similar  inefficiencies  that  the  Japanese 
now  find  themselves  unable  to  compete  in  costs, 


238  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

in  certain  lines,  with  other  nations,  even  though 
the  labour  of  those  other  nations  is  much  better  paid. 

Among  the  things  most  criticized  by  visitors  are  the 
bad  roads,  both  in  the  country  and  in  the  cities;  the 
hotels,  which  except  in  a  few  places  are  poor  (I  am 
speaking  only  of  the  foreign-style  hotels);  and  the 
miserable  conditions  of  what  the  Japan  Advertiser 
humorously  refers  to  as  "public  futilities." 

Tokyo,  with  a  transportation  problem  which  ought 
easily  to  be  solved,  has  utterly  inadequate  street-car 
service.  The  rush  hour  there  is  only  saved  from 
being  as  terrible  as  the  rush  hour  in  New  York  by 
the  lack  of  subterranean  features. 

But  it  is  in  all  matters  having  to  do  with  communi- 
cations that  Japanese  inefficiency  is  most  strikingly 
brought  to  the  notice  of  strangers.  The  postal  ser- 
vice is  poor,  the  cable  service  is  expensive  and  absurdly 
slow  (when  I  was  in  Japan  it  took  about  ten  days  to 
cable  to  America  and  get  an  answer  back),  and  the 
telephone  service  is  unbelievably  awful.  All  these, 
like  the  railroads,  are  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Government. 

I  began  to  suspect  their  telephones  when  I  saw  the 
old  full-bosomed  wall  instruments  they  use,  with 
bell-cranks  to  be  rung;  but  little  did  I  then  guess  the 
full  measure  of  their  telephonic  backwardness. 

It  is  like  opera  bouffe.  Though  the  demand  for 
new  telephones  far  exceeds  the  supply,  the  Govern- 
ment makes  no  appreciable  effort  to  remedy  the 
situation.  Every  year  an  absurdly  small  number 
of  lines  is  added  to  the  existing  system.  These  are 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  239 

assigned  by  lot  among  those  who  have  applied  for 
them.  Thus,  if  a  man  be  lucky  in  the  draw,  he 
may  get  a  telephone  within  two  or  three  years.  But 
I  know  one  gentleman  in  Tokyo  who  was  not  lucky 
in  the  draw.  At  the  ripe  age  of  sixty-seven  he 
applied  to  the  Government  for  an  additional  office 
telephone.  The  instrument  was  installed  shortly 
after  he  had  celebrated  his  eightieth  birthday. 
Long  may  he  live  to  use  it! 

If  one  be  in  a  hurry  to  have  a  telephone  put  in, 
one  does  not  apply  to  the  authorities,  but  attacks 
the  problem  in  a  manner  more  direct — either  through 
a  telephone  broker  or  through  advertising.  Thus 
one  can  get  in  contact  with  a  person  wishing  to  sell 
an  installation  and  a  number.  The  number  must, 
however,  be  in  the  exchange  serving  the  district  in 
which  the  telephone  is  to  be  placed. 

Though  this  is  a  very  expensive  method,  it  is 
the  one  usually  employed  in  Tokyo  and  other  large 
cities.  A  telephone  for  the  business  district  of  the 
capital  may  cost  as  much  as  twelve  hundred  dollars, 
but  in  a  residential  district  it  will  be  considerably 
cheaper — five  hundred  dollars  or  less. 

A  curious  detail  of  this  business  is  that  low  numbers 
bring  the  highest  price  in  the  open  market.  This, 
I  was  informed,  is  because  green  operators,  in  process 
of  being  broken-in,  sit  at  that  end  of  the  central 
switchboard  at  which  the  high  numbers  invariably 
occur,  thus  guaranteeing  the  owners  of  high  numbers 
a  grade  of  service  calculated  to  drive  them  to  the 
madhouse. 


240  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  Japanese  are 
content  with  their  telephone  service.  They  are  not. 
For  some  time  prior  to  my  arrival  in  Japan  the  press 
had  been  demanding  a  reform,  and  at  last  it  was 
announced  that  action  was  about  to  be  taken  to 
improve  matters. 

But  all  that  happened  was  this :  Instead  of  increas- 
ing the  service,  the  government  functionaries  started 
a  campaign  to  discourage  the  use  of  telephones. 
Up  to  that  time,  unlimited  service  had  been  given. 
Now,  however,  a  flat  charge  of  two  sen  (about  one 
cent)  per  call  was  announced,  the  theory  being  that 
many  persons  would  think  twice  before  spending  two 
sen  on  an  idle  telephonic  conversation. 

After  watching  the  new  plan  in  operation  for  a 
few  days  the  telephone  authorities  jubilantly  an- 
nounced that  it  was  a  great  success — the  number 
of  calls  had  appreciably  diminished.  Apparently 
it  never  occurred  to  them  that  the  result  of  such  a 
policy,  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  would 
be  to  eliminate  the  telephone  entirely. 

With  the  Japanese  cables  the  trouble  has  been 
largely  due  to  congestion.  The  use  of  two  important 
lines  was  cut  off  by  the  war,  and  as  service  on  these 
lines  has  not  up  to  the  time  of  writing  been  resumed, 
owing  to  the  disorganization  of  Russia  and  Germany, 
a  heavy  strain  has  been  placed  upon  the  trans- 
pacific cables.  I  am  assured,  however,  that  con- 
ditions would  not  be  so  bad  as  they  are  if  the 
Japanese  were  entirely  efficient  in  their  handling  of 
cable  business,  and  my  own  experiences  with  cable 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  241 

messages,  while  there,  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
this  is  true. 

Moreover,  at  the  time  when  cable  congestion 
was  at  its  worst,  the  Japanese  refused  to  operate 
their  transpacific  wireless  for  more  than  seven  hours 
a  day;  and  even  then  they  would  take  business 
only  for  San  Francisco  and  vicinity,  for  the  reason, 
it  was  explained,  that  they  did  not  wish  to  be  both- 
ered with  the  details  of  figuring  the  rates  to  various 
parts  of  the  United  States.  Lately  they  have  in- 
creased their  service  to  cover  the  states  of  California, 
Oregon  and  Washington;  but  that,  at  the  time  of 
writing,  is  as  far  as  they  have  consented  to  extend  it. 


CHAPTER    XX 

The  Average  American  and  International  Affairs — The 
Vagueness  of  the  Orient — A  Definition  by  Former  Am- 
bassador Morris— "They  say"— The  "Yellow  Peril"— In- 
ternational Insults — Physiognomy — What  the  Japanese 
Should  Learn  About  Us — Our  Race  Problems — Racial  In- 
tegrity— Assimilation — Californian  Methods — The  Two 
Sound  Arguments  Against  Oriental  Immigration 

If  public  opinion  is  fed  with  distorted  facts,  unworthy 
suspicions,  or  alarming  rumours;  if  every  careless  utter- 
ance by  thoughtless  and  insignificant  men  is  to  be  given 
prominence  in  print;  if  every  casual  difference  of  view 
is  to  be  magnified  into  a  crisis,  sober  judgment  and  de- 
liberate action  become  impossible. — JOHN  W.  DAVIS, 
former  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  St.  James's. 

CONCERNED  with  making  a  living,  the 
Average  American  has  as  a  rule  neither  the 
time  nor  the  inclination  to  study  international 
affairs.  He  expects  his  government  to  see  to  such 
things  for  him.  He  has  no  interest  in  what  his  gov- 
ernment is  doing  with  regard  to  other  nations  unless 
his  personal  feelings  are  in  some  way  involved.  Thus 
if  he  be  a  German- American  he  may  take  cognizance 
of  our  relations  with  Germany;  or  if  he  be  a  Russian- 
American  he  may  desire  that  we  recognize  the  so- 
called  government  of  Lenine  and  Trotzky;  or  again, 
if  he  be  an  Irish-American  he  may  wish  the  President 

242 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  243 

of  the  United  States  to  go  personally  to  London  and 
knock  the  British  premier's  hat  off.  But  if  he  be  sim- 
ply an  average  unhyphenated  American  the  chances 
are  that  he  is  disgusted  with  the  clatter  of  the  hyphen- 
ates and  bored  with  the  whole  business  of  foreign 
relations  and  race  problems.  His  main  interest  in  gov- 
ernmental affairs  at  the  present  time  has  nothing  to 
do  with  foreign  relations  but  comes  much  closer  to 
home.  He  is  tired  of  paying  heavy  taxes,  tired  of 
paying  exorbitantly  for  the  necessities  of  life.  He 
wants  his  government  to  remedy  those  two  things. 
Then,  because  he  is  sick  of  hyphenated  citizens  and 
internal  race  problems,  he  wants  immigration  stopped. 
The  Orient  is  all  vague  to  him.  If  he  does  not 
live  on  the  Pacific  Coast  or  in  some  large  city  where 
Japanese  have  settled,  he  may  never  have  laid  eyes 
upon  a  Japanese.  Or  if  he  has  seen  Japanese  over 
here  he  may  have  seen  them  in  the  farming  districts 
of  the  Pacific  slope.  Whether  he  has  seen  them  or 
not,  he  has  gathered  some  impression  of  them  through 
newspaper  accounts  of  the  trouble  there  has  been 
about  them  in  California.  He  understands  that 
their  customs,  religion,  and  food  are  unlike  his — which 
may  be  taken  as  implying  a  certain  lack  of  merit  in 
them.  He  understands  that  Japanese  women  and 
children  work  in  the  fields.  His  own  women  and 
children  do  not  work  in  the  fields,  but  wear  silk 
stockings,  chew  gum,  and  go  to  the  movies — all  of 
which,  of  course,  counts  against  the  Japanese,  since 
to  work  in  the  fields  is  in  these  times  almost  un- 
American.  And  of  course  it  is  still  more  un-American 


244  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  do  what  the  Japanese  labourers  did  in  California 
until  the  patriotic  Calif ornians  stopped  them;  namely 
to  save  money  and  buy  farms. 
Then  there  is  this  business  about  "picture-brides" 
—my  Average  American  may  have  heard  vaguely 
about  that,  though  probably  he  does  not  know  that 
the  Japanese  Government,  in  deference  to  our  wishes, 
no  longer  allows  picture-brides  to  come  here.  He 
would  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  picking  out  a  wife 
by  photograph.  None  of  his  friends  would  do  it, 
either. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  state  the  actual  nature  of 
the  issue  in  California.  This  can  be  done  briefly 
in  no  better  way  than  by  quoting  an  editorial  pub- 
lished not  long  since  in  the  New  York  World,  a 
newspaper  remarkable  for  the  intelligence  with  which 
it  has  generally  treated  the  Japanese  question. 

The  World's  editorial  was  published  apropos  an 
address  made  by  Mr.  Roland  S.  Morris,  who  served 
under  the  Wilson  Administration  as  ambassador 
to  Tokyo,  and  whose  admirable  work  in  Tokyo  might 
have  borne  good  fruit  but  for  our  unfortunate  habit 
of  relieving  ambassadors,  however  able,  when  the 
political  party  to  which  they  belong  goes  out  of  power. 

Said  the  World: 

In  his  address  at  the  University  Club  on  the  Japanese  issue  in 
California,  Roland  S.  Morris,  American  Ambassador  to  Tokyo, 
refrained  from  discussing  the  merits  of  the  case  and  merely 
defined  the  question  in  accordance  with  the  facts.  It  is  only  in 
the  light  of  the  facts  that  a  sound  decision  can  be  reached  where 
argument  and  judgment  run  along  the  line  of  fixed  prejudices. 

As  Mr.  Morris  explained,  Japan  does  not  question  the  right 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  245 

of  the  United  States,  subject  to  its  treaty  obligations,  to  legislate 
on  the  admission  of  foreigners.  While  under  the  treaty  of  1911 
Japanese  were  granted  full  rights  of  residence  and  admission,  the 
Tokyo  Government  accepted  the  condition  that  it  would  con- 
tinue limiting  emigration  from  Japan  to  the  United  States  in 
compliance  with  the  "Gentleman's  Agreement"  of  1908.* 

The  Japanese  Government  and  people  are  not  seeking  the 
removal  of  restrictions  on  immigration.  The  Japanese  are  not 
eligible  to  American  citizenship,  but  they  have  enjoyed  in  this 
country  the  same  personal  and  property  rights  as  other  aliens. 
It  is  here  that  the  friction  has  been  created  by  the  action  of 
California. 

In  1913  California  deprived  those  aliens  who  were  ineligible  to 
citizenship  of  certain  property  rights.  In  1920,  in  Mr.  Morris's 
words,  "  this  legislation  was  amplified  by  an  initiative  and  referen- 
dum act."  What  he  does  not  state  is  that  this  measure  was  in- 
tended to  discriminate  against  the  Japanese  in  buying  and  leasing 
land. 

Hence  the  protests  of  the  Government  at  Tokyo.  The  Japan- 
ese object  to  what  they  regard  as  the  injustice  of  being  set  apart 
as  a  separate  class,  suffering  political  disabilities  and  deprived  of 
rights  other  aliens  enjoy. 

Mr.  Morris  leaves  the  issue  open  when  he  says:  "The  Japan- 
ese protest  presents  to  all  our  people  this  very  definite  question: 
In  the  larger  view  of  our  relations  with  the  Orient,  is  it  wise  thus 
to  classify  aliens  on  the  basis  of  their  eligibility  to  citizenship?" 

In  pursuance  of  its  local  ends,  California  has  adopted  a  provo- 
cative position  and  played  into  the  hands  of  Japanese  jingoes  and 
militarists. 

Lamentably,  these  simple  facts  have  been  cast 
adrift  upon  a  stormy  sea  of  Californian  prejudice. 
That  sea,  I  fear,  so  fills  the  eye  of  the  Average  Amer- 
ican that  oftentimes  he  fails  entirely  to  descry  the 

*The  "limiting"  here  referred  to  includes  the  stoppage  of  labour 
emigration,  not  by  us,  but  by  the  Japanese  Government,  which 
took  this  amiable  and  dignified  means  of  avoiding  a  direct  issue  on 
the  subject  of  racial  equality. 


246          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

shipwrecked  waifs  of  Truth  out  there  upon  their 
little  raft.  Were  he  to  attempt  to  state  his  views 
upon  the  California  question  he  would  in  all  proba- 
bility quote  as  the  source  of  his  information  that 
favourite  authority,  "They  say." 

"They  say  Japanese  immigrants  are  flooding  into 
California  and  buying  up  the  farming  land;  they  say 
the  Japanese  have  large  families;  they  say  they 
don't  make  desirable  neighbours;  they  say  that  if 
things  keep  on  this  way  they  will  ultimately  control 
the  state.  Certainly  we  don't  want  any  part  of 
our  country  dominated  by  foreigners."  The  less 
familiar  he  is  with  certain  Californian  traits  the  more 
he  is  likely  to  conclude:  "I  guess  it  must  be  true 
or  the  Californians  wouldn't  be  making  such  a  row 
about  it." 

His  tendency  to  reason  thus  may  be  enhanced  by 
the  recollection  of  a  phrase  he  has  heard :  the  "  Yellow 
Peril" — one  of  the  most  poisonous  phrases  ever 
coined.  He  does  not  know  that  the  term  was  Made 
in  Germany  for  the  very  purpose  of  exciting  inter- 
national suspicion  and  ill-will.  He  may  not  be  alive 
to  our  real  Yellow  Peril — that  of  the  yellow  press- 
but  may,  upon  the  contrary,  actually  acquire  his 
views  on  international  affairs  from  such  inflammatory 
sheets  as  those  published  by  William  Randolph 
Hearst,  himself  a  son  of  California  and  a  leader  in 
the  anti-Japanese  chorus. 

My  Average  American  knows  little  of  Californian 
politics,  and  nothing  of  politics  in  Japan.  He  does 
not  realize  that  Californian  politicians  are  largely 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  247 

responsible  for  the  stirring  up  of  anti-Japanese  senti- 
ment, precisely  as  earlier  politicians  of  the  state 
were  responsible  for  anti-Chinese  sentiment,  and 
that  in  both  cases  vote-getting  was  a  chief  motive. 
It  is  sometimes  very  convenient  for  a  demagogue  to 
have  a  voteless  alien  race  at  hand  to  bully. 

My  Average  American  is  probably  unaware  that 
more  than  two  hundred  thousand  Californian  voters 
cast  their  ballots  against  the  discriminatory  laws 
passed  in  November,  1920,  even  though  the  press  of 
California  was  generally  closed  to  spokesmen  repre- 
senting sentiment  opposed  to  undue  harshness  toward 
the  Japanese.  Still  less  is  he  likely  to  be  aware  that 
politicians  in  Japan  know  all  the  tricks  familiar  to 
their  Californian  counterparts;  that  they,  too,  know 
how  to  gather  votes  by  stirring  up  race  feeling.  So, 
when  he  sees  in  his  newspaper-headlines  that  a 
Japanese  whose  name  he  has  never  before  heard, 
but  who,  the  paper  says,  is  high  in  politics,  has 
been  talking  of  war  with  the  United  States,  he  be- 
gins to  wonder  whether  those  people  over  there 
are  not,  perhaps,  looking  for  trouble.  And  when 
he  reads  of  Japan's  great  naval  building  programme 
the  notion  becomes  a  little  more  concrete  in  his 
mind. 

Of  course  he  does  not  understand  that,  meanwhile, 
in  Japan  there  has  been  going  on  a  process  precisely 
similar:  that  hostile  and  insulting  things  said  by 
American  politicians  are  cabled  to  Japan  and  pub- 
lished there,  where  they  carry  undue  weight;  and 
that  while  we  are  reading  of  Japan's  naval  programme 


248  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  wondering  what  it  signifies,  Japan  is  reading  of 
ours,  and  likewise  wondering. 

That  any  one  could  suspect  the  United  States  of 
aggressive  purpose  is  inconceivable  to  my  Average 
American.  Though  the  United  States  has  lately 
shown  that  she  can  fight,  she  has  also  shown  she  is 
loath  to  do  it.  The  Average  American  has  no  feeling 
of  hostility  toward  Japan,  and  the  idea  of  war  with 
Japan  seems  to  him  absurd  to  the  point  of  being 
fantastic.  There  is,  as  he  conceives  it,  but  one  way 
in  which  such  a  war  could  be  started,  and  that  is  by 
Japanese  aggression. 

Assure  him  that  the  exact  reverse  of  this  view 
represents  Japanese  sentiment  and  you  will  stupefy 
him.  "You  must  be  wrong  about  that,"  he  will  tell 
you.  "The  Japanese  must  know  that  we  hate  war 
and  that  we  have  no  more  desire  to  fight  them  than 
to  select  our  wives  out  of  a  photograph  album." 
And  he  may  add  something  about  Japanese  "in- 
scrutability." 

That  is  another  point: 

When  my  Average  American  meets  a  stranger  of 
his  own  race,  or  of  almost  any  European  nationality, 
he  can  form,  from  the  stranger's  physiognomy, 
some  estimate  of  his  character.  It  is  a  type  of  face 
he  understands.  But  the  Oriental  physiognomy 
baffles  him.  He  cannot  read  it.  To  him  it  is  as  a 
book  in  an  unknown  tongue — a  very  symbol  for 
mystery. 

That  it  may  be  equally  difficult  for  the  Japanese 
to  judge  of  us  would  not  occur  to  him.  Our  faces  are 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  249 

—well,  they  are  regular  faces;  there  is  nothing  queer 
about  them.  We  aren't  queer  in  any  way.  It  is 
other  people  who  are  queer. 

If  certain  simple  facts  about  Japan  were  under- 
stood in  the  United  States,  and  certain  simple  facts 
about  the  United  States  were  understood  in  Japan, 
it  might  not  follow  that  the  two  nations  would  there- 
after cordially  approve  of  all  each  other's  policies 
and  acts,  but  it  ought  certainly  to  follow  that  they 
could  view  such  policies  and  acts  with  eyes  more 
tolerant. 

You  and  I,  for  instance,  might  not  approve  the 
aggressive  methods  of  some  canvasser  we  had  en- 
countered, but  if  we  knew  that  his  wife  and  family 
were  crowded  into  a  single  room  wondering  where 
to-morrow's  breakfast  would  come  from,  we  could 
forgive  the  man  a  good  deal.  Similarly,  if  he  were 
to  see  you  or  me  bulldozing  a  helpless  guest  in  our 
own  house,  his  disapproval  of  our  action  might  be 
mitigated  if  he  understood  that  the  entire  neighbour- 
hood had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  using  our  house  as 
a  common  camping  ground  for  undesirable  members 
of  their  families,  and  that  we  had  been  goaded  by 
these  unwelcome  visitors  into  a  state  of  desperation. 

What  are  the  essential  things  for  the  Japanese  to 
learn  about  us? 

They  must  get  a  better  understanding  of  our  var- 
ious race  problems.  They  must  realize  that,  impor- 
tant as  the  problem  involving  their  settlers  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  appears  to  them,  it  is  to  us  a  minor 


250  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

problem — being  one  of  the  least  of  a  number  of  race- 
problems  with  which  we  are  confronted. 

They  must  know  that  our  population  is  derived 
from  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  And  they  must 
be  made  aware  that  though  we  have  in  the  past 
viewed  this  situation  with  fatuous  complacency,  we 
no  longer  do  so.  Our  old  beautiful  theory  that  the 
United  States  was  properly  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed 
of  all  other  lands  has  lost  a  wheel  and  gone  into  the 
ditch.  Some  of  us  have  even  begun  to  suspect  that 
the  oppressed  of  other  lands  were  in  certain  instances 
oppressed  for  what  may  have  been  good  and  sufficient 
cause.  We  have  found  that  some  of  these  individ- 
uals, on  arriving  in  the  United  States,  become  so 
exhilarated  by  our  free  air  that  from  oppressed  they 
turn  into  oppressors  who  would  fain  take  our  govern- 
ment out  of  our  hands  and  run  it  in  the  interest  of 
the  Kaiser,  the  Soviets,  or  of  Mr.  De  Valera's  inter- 
esting Republic. 

With  these  and  other  hyphenated  racial  problems 
we  are  continually  contending.  We  no  sooner  meet 
one  than  another  arises.  Now  we  must  needs  create 
an  Alien  Property  Custodian  to  take  a  hand.  Now 
we  deport  a  band  of  the  more  violent  Bolsheviks. 
Now  we  summon  glaziers  to  put  new  windows  in  the 
Union  Club  in  New  York,  where  the  British  flag 
(flying  in  commemoration  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  three  hundred  years  ago)  was  hailed 
with  bricks  by  members  of  a  congregation  emerging 
from  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  across  the  way. 

We  used  to  speak  with  loving  confidence  of  some- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  251 

thing  called  the  "Melting  Pot,"  which  was  supposed 
to  make  newly  arrived  immigrants  into  good  Amer- 
ican citizens.  Sometimes  it  did  so,  but  we  have 
lately  learned  that  its  by-product  consisted  too  often 
of  bricks  and  bombs. 

We  do  not  boast  about  the  Melting  Pot  any  more. 
Having  overloaded  it  and  found  it  could  not  do  the 
work  we  put  upon  it,  we  want  time  in  which  to  catch 
up  with  back  orders,  as  it  were.  Meanwhile  no  new 
ones  must  be  taken. 

But  while  the  problems  growing  out  of  European 
immigration  have  of  recent  years  troubled  us  most, 
they  do  not  constitute  our  greatest  race  problem. 
Always  in  the  background  of  our  consciousness,  like 
a  volcano  quiescent  but  very  much  alive,  looms  our 
gigantic  negro  problem — the  problem  which  for  the 
sins  of  our  slave-importing  and  slave-holding  fore- 
fathers we  inherit,  and  from  which,  according  to  our 
characteristic  way  of  "meeting"  great  quiescent 
problems,  we  are  always  endeavouring  to  hide.  For 
it  is  not  our  way  to  advance  upon  a  bull  and  take  him 
by  the  horns.  If  a  bull  seeks  to  be  taken  by  the 
horns  he  must  do  the  advancing.  We  Americans 
all  know  this  about  ourselves,  but  it  is  our  way  to 
excuse  the  failing  by  boasting  of  the  tussle  we  will 
give  the  bull  if  he  ever  gets  us  in  a  corner. 

There  is  no  need  here  even  to  outline  the  tragedies 
of  the  negro  problem,  but  there  is  one  aspect  of  the 
matter  which  should  be  spoken  of.  Experience  has 
shown  that  whereas  immigrants  from  Europe  can 
ultimately  be  absorbed  into  what  we  may  term  the 


252  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

American  race,  the  negro,  wearing  the  badge  of  his 
race  in  the  pigment  of  his  skin,  is  not  to  be  ab- 
sorbed. Even  the  octoroon  is  clearly  distinguishable 
from  the  white.  The  negro  race  must,  so  far  as  the 
future  can  be  read,  remain  a  race  apart. 

The  case  of  the  Indian  affords  another  example  of 
the  failure  of  two  races,  separated  by  colour  and  other 
physical  markings,  to  fuse.  In  the  early  days  of 
this  country's  settlement,  when  the  Indians  strongly 
predominated,  they  did  not  absorb  the  then  few 
whites.  When  the  time  came  that  there  was  an 
equal  number  of  Indians  and  whites,  still  they  did  not 
fuse.  And  now,  when  but  a  handful  remains  of  the 
once  mighty  Indian  nations,  that  remnant  still  re- 
tains its  racial  integrity. 

Here,  however,  is  involved  no  question  of  racial 
inferiority.  Whites  and  Indians  have  to  some  small 
extent  intermarried,  and  when  both  parties  represent 
the  best  of  their  respective  races,  not  only  is  there  no 
sense  of  degradation  to  either,  but  the  white  descen- 
dants of  such  alliances  are  often  proud  of  their  Indian 
blood. 

In  this  whole  matter  of  the  fusibility  of  races  there 
is,  then,  no  basic  principle  of  inferiority  or  superiority. 
Such  questions  are  here  as  extraneous  as  in  the  case 
of  oil  and  water,  which  though  they  wiD  not  mix  are 
not  therefore  designated  as  a  superior  and  an  inferior 
fluid. 

The  fact  is  that  some  inner  consciousness  tells  us 
that  the  characteristic  physical  markings  of  the  chief 
races  of  the  world  were  not  given  them  for  nothing; 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN          253 

that  Nature  intended  the  broad  lines  of  race  to  be 
maintained;  and  we  are  told  that  crosses  which  dis- 
regard these  natural  race  divisions  are  usually  penal- 
ized by  deterioration. 

To  find  in  this  truth  the  faintest  implication  of 
insult  would  be  absurd.  It  would  be  as  ridiculous  to 
resent  the  statement  that  "like  seeks  like,"  as  to  re- 
sent the  statement  that  "honesty  is  the  best  policy." 

No  people  insists  more  firmly  than  the  Japanese 
upon  racial  integrity.  The  most  fanatical  English 
horseman  could  hardly  be  more  finicky  about  the 
maintenance  of  pure  thoroughbred  stock.  Marriages 
between  native  Japanese  and  foreigners  are  not  en- 
couraged and  seldom  occur.  Among  the  upper  classes 
they  almost  never  occur.  A  citizen  of  Japan  cannot 
enter  into  a  legal  marriage  with  a  Korean  or  a  For- 
mosan,  although  Korea  and  Formosa  are  Japanese 
colonies.  (I  am  informed  that  steps  were  taken  in 
1918  to  make  such  marriages  legal,  but  up  to  the  time 
of  writing  this  has  not  been  accomplished.) 

The  law  regulating  the  acts  of  the  Japanese  Im- 
perial Family  does  not  permit  the  marriage  of  mem- 
bers of  that  family  with  persons  other  than  those  of 
Japanese  Imperial  or  noble  stock.  This  law  had  to 
be  amended  in  order  to  make  possible  the  marriage, 
several  years  ago,  of  a  Japanese  Imperial  princess,  the 
daughter  of  Prince  Nashimoto,  with  the  heir  to  the 
Korean  Royal  Family — which  family,  by  the  way, 
now  ranks  as  a  sort  of  Japanese  nobility.  The  mar- 
riage, it  may  be  added,  was  unpopular  with  the 
Japanese  masses,  because  of  their  strong  feeling  that 


254          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Japanese  blood,  and  especially  Japanese  Imperial 
blood,  should  not  be  diluted.  Had  the  prince  been  a 
European  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  louder  protest 
would  have  been  heard,  for  the  Japanese  does  not,  as 
a  rule,  look  with  favour  upon  Eurasians.  There  are 
exceptions,  but  in  the  main  the  man  or  woman  of 
mixed  Oriental  and  Occidental  blood  lives  socially 
upon  an  international  boundary  line,  on  neither  side 
of  which  is  exuberant  cordiality  displayed. 

The  intelligent  and  patriotic  sentiment  of  the 
United  States  is  at  present  overwhemingly  in  favour 
of  the  stoppage  of  all  immigration;  and  even  if  there 
comes  a  time  when  it  is  felt  that  the  floodgates  may 
again  be  opened,  they  will  not,  if  wisdom  prevails, 
be  opened  wide,  but  will  admit  only  such  aliens  as 
are  susceptible  to  assimilation. 

What  does  assimilation  mean? 

It  means  that  the  immigrant  shall  lose  his  racial 
identity  in  ours.  It  means  that  he  shall  be  sus- 
ceptible to  absorption  into  the  body  of  our  race 
through  marriage,  or  at  the  very  least  that  his  chil- 
dren shall  be  susceptible  to  such  absorption.  And 
this  in  turn  means,  among  other  things,  that  he  shall 
have  no  ineradicable  physical  characteristics  which 
strongly  differentiate  him  from  our  national  physical 
type. 

This  is  one  chief  reason  why,  in  my  opinion,  Orien- 
tals should  never  settle  in  the  United  States. 
Broadly  speaking,  they  are  no  more  suited  to  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States  than  are  we  to  become 
citizens  of  Japan  or  China. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN          255 

Another  chief  reason  why  Japanese  labour  immigra- 
tion is  not  acceptable  to  us  is  that  the  Japanese  can 
live  on  less  than  we  can.  They  are  willing  to  work 
longer  hours  for  less  pay.  Also  they  are  thrifty. 
These  are  virtues;  but  the  fact  that  they  are  virtues 
does  not  make  Japanese  competition  the  more  wel- 
come to  white  labour. 

This  point  also  should  readily  be  appreciated  by 
the  people  of  Japan,  who  find  it  generally  necessary 
to  exclude  Chinese  labour  on  precisely  the  same 
ground — that  is,  because  a  Chinaman  can  live  on 
less  than  a  Japanese,  and  can  consequently  work  for 
lower  wages. 

Had  California,  in  her  desire  to  prevent  the  further 
acquirement  of  land  by  Japanese  settlers,  rested  her 
case  on  these  two  clean-cut  issues:  namely,  unassimil- 
ability  and  economic  necessity;  had  she  refrained  from 
vituperation,  taking  up  the  matter  purely  on  its 
merits;  had  she  recognized  her  duty  as  a  state  to  the 
Nation  and  cooperated  with  the  Washington  Govern- 
ment, instead  of  ignoring  the  international  bearing 
of  the  question  and  embarrassing  the  Government  by 
radical  and  independent  state  action;  and  had  she, 
above  all,  shown  any  disposition  to  deal  as  justly 
with  the  Japanese  as  the  circumstances  would  permit; 
then,  without  a  doubt,  the  entire  Nation  would  have 
been  behind  California.  And  what  is  perhaps  as 
important,  the  whole  matter  could  then  have  been 
presented  to  Japan  in  a  reasonable  and  temperate 
manner,  without  offence,  yet  with  arguments  the 
force  of  which  Japan  could  hardly  escape. 


256  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

But  it  is  not  apparently  in  the  nature  of  the  average 
Californian  to  go  at  things  in  a  moderate  way. 
Moderation  is  not  one  of  his  traits.  His  father,  or 
grandfather,  was  a  sturdy  pioneer  whose  habit  it  was 
to  express  resentment  with  a  bowie-knife  and  answer 
antagonism  with  a  Colt  .45.  In  the  descendant  these 
family  traits  are  modified  but  not  extinguished.  If 
he  does  not  approve  of  the  manner  in  which  an  amia- 
ble alien  wears  his  eyebrows  he  is  likely  to  call  him 
something — without  a  smile. 

Antagonism?  Why  should  he  mind  antagonism? 
He  likes  it.  He  feels  the  need  of  it.  He  must  have 
something  to  combat — something  to  neutralize  the 
everlasting  sunshine  and  the  cloying  sweetness  of  the 
orange-blossom  and  the  rose. 

And  alas,  there  is  Senator  Hiram  Johnson,  of  whom 
the  New  York  Times  recently  remarked  that,  "he 
would  lose  his  proprietary  political  issue  if  the 
differences  with  Japan  were  peacefully  composed. 
And  we  know,"  the  Times  continued,  "that  it  is  bet- 
ter to  meet  a  bear  robbed  of  her  whelps  than  a  poli- 
tician deprived  of  his  issue. ' '  And  again,  alas,  there  is 
ex-Senator  Phelan — though  the  ex-,  which  has  recently 
been  added  to  his  title,  may  tend,  to  some  extent,  to 
moderate  his  effectiveness  as  a  baiter  of  the  Japanese. 
And  thrice  alas,  there  is  Mr.  V.  S.  McClatchy,  the 
Sacramento  apiarist,  whose  "Bee"  is  trained  to  sting 
the  Japanese  wherever  it  will  hurt  most. 

That  the  difficulties  between  the  two  countries 
must  be  harmonized,  all  thoughtful  citizens  of  both 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  257 

will  agree.  For  myself,  I  do  not  see  how  this  can  be 
fully  accomplished  without  some  modification  of  the 
present  discriminatory  alien  land  law  of  California — 
a  law  which,  aimed  at  one  alien  group  alone,  is 
not  in  consonance  with  the  American  sense  of  justice. 

The  Japanese  labourers  who  are  already  legally 
here — many  of  them  originally  brought  here,  by  the 
way,  at  the  instance  of  Californian  employers- 
should  be  treated  with  absolute  fairness.  They 
should  not  be  deprived  of  the  just  rewards  of  their 
industry  and  thrift.  Their  racial  virtues  should  be 
appreciated  and  might  well  be  emulated. 

It  should  be  clear,  however,  that  for  our  good  and 
the  good  of  the  Japanese,  no  further  immigrants  of 
their  labouring  class  should  ever  enter  the  United 
States.  And  it  should  be  equally  clear  that  in  such 
a  statement  there  is  no  cause  for  offence. 

The  United  States  does  not  invariably  act  wisely. 
Neither  does  Japan.  But  the  American  heart  is  in 
the  right  place,  and  so  is  the  Japanese  heart. 

Let  us  try,  'then,  on  both  sides,  to  look  at  these 
problems  with  honest  and  disinterested  eyes.  Let 
us  try  to  get  each  other's  point  of  view.  Let  us  even 
go  so  far  as  to  make  due  allowance  for  the  frailty  of 
human  nature,  as  exhibited  on  both  sides  of  the 
Pacific. 

But  let  us  have  no  thought  of  straining  good 
will  by  attempting  to  become  on  any  larger  scale 
inmates  of  the  same  house,  dwellers  under  the  same 
national  roof. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

Some  Reflections  on  New  York  Hospitality — And  on  the 
Hospitality  of  Japan — Letters  of  Introduction — Bowing — 
How  Japanese  Politeness  is  Sometimes  Misunderstood — 
Entertaining  Foreigners — Showing  the  Country  at  its  Best— 
What  is  the  Mysterious  "Truth"  About  Japan? — Japanese 
versus  Chinese — Leadership  in  the  Far  East — Will  Japan 
Become  a  Moral  Leader? — A  "First-Class  Power" — The 
New  "Long  Pants" — How  to  Treat  Japan — The  Wisdom 
of  Roosevelt  and  Root. 

A  VIGOROUS  and  sustained  display  of  hos- 
pitality must  always  be  astonishing  to  one 
who  calls  New  York  his  home ;  for  New  York 
is  without  doubt  the  most  inhospitable  city  in  the 
world.      In  the  jaded  hotel-clerk,  the  bored  box- 
office  man,  and  the  fish-eyed  head  waiter,  the  spirit 
of  its  welcome  is  personified. 

There  is  no  dissimulation.  The  stranger  is  as 
welcome  in  New  York  as  he  feels.  If  there  be  a 
hotel  room,  a  theatre  seat,  or  a  restaurant  table  dis- 
engaged, he  may  have  it,  at  a  price.  If  all  are  oc- 
cupied he  may,  so  far  as  New  York  cares,  step 
outside  and,  with  due  regard  to  the  season  and  the 
traffic  regulations,  die  of  sunstroke  or  perish  in  a 
snowdrift — whereupon  his  case  comes  automatically 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Street-Cleaning  De- 
partment— and  whatever  else  that  Department 

258 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  259 

may  leave  lying  around  the  New  York  streets,  it 
does  not  leave  them  littered  with  defunct  strangers. 
Space  in  OUT  city  is  too  valuable. 

The  visitor  arriving  in  New  York  with  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  some  gentleman  who  is  important, 
or  who  believes  he  is,  may  expect  a  few  minutes' 
talk  with  the  gentleman  in  his  office,  and  may  regard 
it  as  a  delicate  attention  if  his  host  refrains  from 
fidgeting. 

Should  the  stranger  have  some  information  which 
the  New  Yorker  desires  to  possess,  he  may  find 
himself  invited  out  to  lunch.  They  will  lunch  at  a 
club  in  the  top  of  a  down-town  skyscraper.  Or  if 
the  letter  of  introduction  has  a  social  flavour,  the 
outlander  will  presently  receive  by  mail,  at  his 
hotel,  a  guest's  card  to  a  club  up-town. 

Let  him  make  bold  to  visit  this  club  and  he  will 
find  there  no  one  to  speak  to  save  a  rigid  doorman 
and  some  waiters.  The  doorman  will  tell  him  coldly 
where  to  check  his  hat  and  coat.  He  will  see  a  few 
members  in  the  club,  but  will  not  know  them,  nor 
will  they  desire  to  know  him.  All  New  Yorkers 
know  more  people  than  they  want  to,  anyway. 
The  stranger  with  a  guest's  card  to  a  New  York 
club  is  as  comfortable  there  as  a  cat  in  a  cathedral. 

In  the  West  it  is  different. 

And  again  it  is  different  in  Japan. 

Those  who  go  well  introduced  to  Japan  meet  there 
an  experience  such  as  is  hardly  to  be  encountered 
in  any  other  land.  Japanese  courtesy  and  hospital- 
ity are  fairly  stupefying  to  the  average  Anglo- 


260          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Saxon.  The  Occidental  mind  is  staggered  by  the 
mere  externals. 

You  see  two  Japanese  meet — two  gentlemen, 
two  ladies,  or  a  lady  and  a  gentleman.  They  face 
each  other  at  fairly  close  range.  Then,  as  though 
at  some  signal  unperceived  by  the  foreigner,  they 
bow  deeply  from  the  waist,  their  heads  passing 
with  so  small  a  space  between  that  one  half  expects 
them  to  bump.  Three  times  in  succession  they 
bow  in  this  way,  simultaneously,  their  hands  slipping 
up  and  down  their  thighs,  in  front,  like  pistons 
attached  to  the  walking-beam  of  a  side-wheeler. 

In  conjunction  with  this  profound  and  protracted 
bowing,  especially  when  the  bowers  are  Japanese 
of  the  old  school,  or  are  unaccustomed  to  associate 
with  foreigners,  the  bystander  will  oftentimes  hear  a 
sibilant  sound  made  by  the  drawing  in  of  air  through 
the  lips.  According  to  the  Japanese  idea,  such 
sounds  denote  appreciation  as  of  some  delicious 
spiritual  flavour.  This  ancient  form  of  politeness 
is,  however,  being  discarded  by  sophisticated  young 
Japan  for  the  reason  that  foreigners  find  it  peculiar; 
and  the  practice  of  audibly  sucking  in  food  as  an 
expression  of  gustatory  ecstasy  is  also  going  out  of 
fashion  for  the  same  reason.  The  old  ways  are, 
nevertheless,  held  to  by  many  an  aristocrat  of  middle 
age,  or  older. 

The  American,  accustomed  to  regard  hissing  as  a 
signr^f  disapproval,  and  noisy  eating  as  ill-bred, 
is  naturally  startled  on  first  encountering  these 
manifestations.  Japanese  bowing,  when  directed 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  261 

at  him,  he  finds  disconcerting.  He  may  wish  to  be 
as  polite  as  the  politest,  but  he  has  in  his  repertory 
nothing  adequate  to  offer  in  return  for  such  an 
obeisance. 

In  this  country  we  have  never  taken  to  bowing  as 
practised  in  some  other  lands.  Our  men  look 
askance  at  Latin  males  when  they  lift  their  hats 
to  one  another  in  salutation,  and  it  may  be  observed 
that  some  of  us  tend  to  slight  the  lifting  of  the  hat 
a  little  bit  even  when  saluting  ladies,  clutching 
furtively  at  the  brim  and  perhaps  loosening  the 
hat  upon  the  head,  then  hastily  jamming  it  back 
in  place. 

The  fact  is  that  very  few  American  men  have  pol- 
ished manners.  We  rebel  at  anything  resembling 
courtliness.  It  makes  us  feel  "silly."  The  dancing- 
school  bow  we  were  compelled  to  practise  in  the  days 
of  our  otherwise  happy  youth  was  a  nightmare  to  us, 
and  now  in  our  maturity  we  have  a  sense  of  doing 
something  utterly  inane  when,  at  a  formal  dinner 
party,  it  devolves  upon  us  to  present  an  arm  to  a  lady, 
as  if  to  assure  her  of  protection  through  the  perils 
of  the  voyage  from  drawing  room  to  table.  We 
much  prefer  to  amble  helter-skelter  to  the  dining 
room. 

In  these  matters,  then,  as  in  so  many  others,  we 
find  ourselves  at  the  opposite  pole  from  the  Japanese; 
and  though  Americans  of  the  class  willing  to  ap- 
preciate merits  of  kinds  they  themselves  do  not 
possess  feel  nothing  but  admiration  for  Japanese 
courtesy  in  its  perfection,  it  sometimes  happens, 


262          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

lamentably  enough,  that  others,  less  intelligent, 
going  to  the  Orient,  utterly  misread  the  meaning 
of  Japanese  politeness,  mistaking  it  for  servility, 
which  it  most  emphatically  is  not.  Far  from 
being  servile  it  is  a  proud  politeness — a  politeness 
grounded  upon  custom,  sensitiveness  of  nature, 
delicacy  of  feeling,  which  cause  the  possessor  to 
expect  in  others  a  like  sensitiveness  and  delicacy 
and  to  make  him  wish  to  outdo  them  in  tact  and 
consideration. 

Nor  does  the  failure  of  certain  Americans  to 
appreciate  Japanese  courtesy  and  hospitality  for 
what  it  is,  stop  here.  Our  yellow  press  and  or- 
ganized Japanese-haters,  aware  that  the  higher 
hospitality  of  Japan  has  oftentimes  an  official  or 
semi-official  character,  are  not  satisfied  to  seek  a 
simple  explanation  for  the  fact,  but  prefer  to  discern 
in  it  something  artful  and  sinister. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  stranger  going  to 
Japan  with  good  letters  of  introduction  meets  a 
group  composed  almost  entirely  of  government 
officials,  big  business  men,  and  then-  families.  It  is 
also  true  that  he  is  likely  to  meet  a  selected  group 
of  such  men.  The  reason  for  this  is  simple.  While 
English  is  the  second  language  taught  in  Japanese 
schools,  and  while  many  Japanese  can  speak  some 
broken  English,  there  are  still  relatively  few  men, 
and  still  fewer  women,  who  have  been  educated 
abroad  and  are  sufficiently  familiar  with  foreign 
languages,  customs,  and  ideas  to  feel  easy  when  en- 
tertaining foreigners.  This  class  is,  moreover,  still 


Nor  could  a  grande  dame  in  an  opera  box  have  exhibited  more 
aplomb  than  she  did  when  I  photographed  her 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  263 

further  limited  by  the  financial  burden  of  extensive 
entertaining. 

Thus  it  happens  that  there  exists  in  Japan  a 
social  group  which  may  be  likened  to  a  loosely  or- 
ganized entertainment  committee,  with  the  result 
that  most  Americans  who  are  entertained  in  that 
country  meet,  broadly  speaking,  the  same  set  of 
people. 

The  Japanese  are  entirely  frank  in  their  desire 
to  interest  the  world  in  Japan.  The  Government 
maintains  a  bureau  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging 
tourists  to  visit  the  country  and  making  travel  easy 
for  them.  The  great  Japanese  steamship  companies, 
the  Toyo  Risen  Kaisha  and  Nippon  Yusen  Kaisha, 
are  energetic  in  seeking  passenger  business.  Journ- 
alists, authors,  men  of  affairs  and  others  likely 
to  have  influence  at  home,  are  especially  encouraged 
to  visit  Japan.  The  feeling  of  the  Japanese  is  that 
there  exists  in  the  United  States  a  prejudice  against 
them,  and  that  the  best  way  to  overcome  this  is 
to  show  Japan  to  Americans  and  let  them  form 
their  own  conclusions.  They  are  proud  of  their 
country  and  they  believe  that  those  who  become 
acquainted  with  it  will  think  well  of  it. 

Some  Americans  charge  them  with  endeavouring 
to  show  things  at  their  best,  as  if  to  do  that  were 
a  sly  sin. 

The  attitude  of  the  Japanese  in  this  matter  may 
be  likened  to  that  of  a  man  who  owns  a  home  in 
some  not  very  accessible  region,  the  advantages 
of  which  are  doubted  by  his  friends.  Being  proud 


264  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

of  his  place  the  owner  is  hospitable.  He  urges 
those  he  knows  to  come  and  see  it. 

When  his  guests  arrive  he  does  not  begin  by 
taking  them  to  look  at  the  sick  cow,  or  the  corner 
behind  the  barn  where  refuse  is  dumped,  but  marches 
them  to  the  west  verandah — the  verandah  with  the 
wonderful  view. 

To  the  average  person  such  a  procedure  would 
seem  entirely  normal.  Yet  there  are  critics  of 
Japan  who  do  not  see  it  in  that  light.  Their  atti- 
tude might  be  likened  to  that  of  someone  who, 
when  taken  to  the  verandah  to  see  the  view,  de- 
clares that  the  view  is  being  shown  not  on  its  own 
merits,  but  because  the  host  has  cut  the  butler's 
throat  and  does  not  wish  his  guests  to  notice  the 
body  lying  under  the  parlour  table. 

Let  an  American  of  any  influence  go  to  Japan, 
be  cordially  received  there,  form  his  impressions, 
and  return  with  a  good  word  to  say  for  the  islands 
and  the  people,  and  the  professional  Japanese- 
haters  have  their  answer  ready.  The  man  has  been 
victimized  by  "propaganda?  He  has  been  flattered 
by  social  attentions,  fuddled  with  food  and  drink, 
reduced  to  a  state  of  idiocy,  and  in  that  state  "per- 
sonally conducted"  through  Japan  in  a  manner  so 
crafty  as  to  prevent  his  stumbling  upon  the  "Truth." 

The  precise  nature  of  this  "Truth"  is  never  re- 
vealed. It  is  merely  indicated  as  some  vague  awfulness 
behind  a  curtain  carefully  kept  drawn. 

Having  so  often  heard  these  rumours  I  went  to 
Japan  in  a  supicious  frame  of  mind.  Arriving 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  265 

there,  I  made  it  my  business  to  dive  behind  whatever 
looked  like  a  veil  of  mystery.  As  the  reader  who 
has  followed  me  thus  far  will  be  aware,  I  found  a 
number  of  mysteries — the  fascinating  mysteries  of 
an  old  and  peculiar  civilization,  out  of  which  an  in- 
teresting modernism  had  rapidly  grown. 

I  was  considerably  entertained  in  Japan;  my 
sightseeing  was  oftentimes  facilitated  by  Japanese 
friends;  but  the  significant  fact  is  that  no  one  ever 
tried  to  prevent  my  seeing  anything  I  wished  to, 
And  I  wished  to  see  everything,  good  and  bad.  1 
visited  the  lowest  slums,  a  p  enitentiary,  a  poorhouse, 
a  hospital,  and  some  factories.  I  asked  questions. 
Sometimes  they  were  embarrassing  questions — about 
militarism  in  Japan,  about  Shantung,  about  Korea 
and  Formosa,  about  Manchuria  and  Siberia.  And 
though  I  do  not  expect  any  Japanese-hater  to 
believe  me,  I  wish  to  declare  here,  in  justice  to  the 
Japanese,  that  they  gave  me  the  information  I 
asked,  even  though  to  do  so  sometimes  pained  them. 

I  saw  and  learned  things  creditable  to  Japan  and 
things  discreditable,  just  as  in  other  lands  one  sees 
and  learns  things  in  both  categories.  I  found  the 
Japanese  neither  angels  nor  devils.  They  are  human 
beings  like  the  rest  of  us,  having  their  virtues  and 
their  defects. 

I  came  away  liking  and  respecting  them  as  a 
people.  This  fact  I  proclaim  with  the  full  knowledge 
that  those  who  do  not  like  them  will  accept  it,  not 
as  a  sign  of  any  merit  in  the  Japanese,  but  as  proof 
of  my  incompetence,  or  worse. 


266  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"But  you  have  not  been  to  China,"  some  of  my 
friends  say.  "You  would  like  the  Chinese  better 
than  the  Japanese." 

That  may  be  true  or  it  may  not.  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  there  is,  on  the  surface,  more  natural 
sympathy  and  understanding  between  Americans 
and  Chinamen  than  between  Americans  and  Japan- 
ese. The  Chinaman  is  more  easily  comprehensible 
to  us.  Also  he  is  meek.  We  can  talk  down  to 
him.  He  will  do  as  we  tell  him  to.  He  is  not  a 
contender — as  the  Japanese  very  definitely  is— 
and  is  therefore  easier  to  get  along  with.  As  an 
individual  he  has  many  qualities  to  recommend 
him,  though  neither  patriotism  nor  cleanliness  seems 
to  be  among  them. 

If  I  ever  go  to  China  I  shall  hope  and  expect  not 
to  fall  into  the  mental  grooves  which  lead  travellers 
in  the  Orient  generally  to  feel  that  if  they  like  a 
Chinaman  they  cannot  like  a  Japanese,  and  vice 
versa.  I  hereby  reserve  the  right  to  like  both. 

China  appears  to  be  an  amiable,  flaccid,  sleepy 
giant  who  has  long  allowed  himself  to  be  bullied, 
victimized,  and  robbed.  Japan,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  a  small,  well-knit,  pugnacious  individual,  well 
able  to  look  after  himself,  and  profoundly  engaged  in 
doing  so.  Naturally  the  two  do  not  get  on  well 
together,  and  equally  naturally  the  impotent  giant 
comes  off  the  worse.  One  is,  to  that  extent,  sorry 
for  him,  but  one  can  hardly  respect  him  as  one  would 
were  he  to  rise  up  and  assert  himself.  One  may,  on 
the  other  hand,  wish  the  little  Japanese  less  ob- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  267 

streperous,  but  one  is  bound  to  respect  him  for  his 
prowess.  Physically  and  materially  he  has  earned 
for  himself  the  undisputed  leadership  of  the  Far  East. 
There  remains,  however,  the  question  whether  he 
is  spiritually  great  enough  to  become,  as  well,  a  moral 
leader.  In  that  question  is  bound  up  the  future  of 
the  Orient.  Some  signs  are  hopeful,  some  are  not. 
The  answer  is  locked  in  the  vaults  of  time  to  come. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Japanese  are  proud 
of  the  leadership  they  have  already  attained.  Being 
relatively  new  members  of  the  hair-pulling,  hob- 
nailed family  we  call  the  Family  of  Nations,  and 
having  rapidly  become  important  members,  they 
are  inclined  to  harp  more  than  necessary  upon 
this  importance,  so  novel  and  so  gratifying  to  them. 
They  like  to  talk  about  it.  They  delight  in  pro- 
claiming themselves  a  "first-class  power.*'  They 
rejoice  exceedingly  in  their  alliance  with  Great 
Britain,  not  because  the  alliance  itself  has  any  very 
real  importance  (in  view  of  the  attitude  of  Australia 
and  Canada  toward  Japan,  and  of  Britain's  re- 
gard for  American  sentiment,  it  cannot  have),  but 
because  of  the  flattering  association.  Japan  likes 
to  be  seen  walking  with  the  big  fellows.  In  this 
she  reminds  one  somewhat  of  a  youth  in  all  the  pride 
and  self-consciousness  of  his  first  pair  of  "long 
pants." 

Now  there  is  this  to  be  remembered  about  a  youth 
in  his  first  "long  pants  " :  he  requires  careful  handling. 
If  you  treat  him  like  a  child,  either  patronizing 
or  ignoring  him,  you  will  offend  him  mortally,  and 


268          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

not  impossibly  drive  him  to  some  furious  action  in 
assertion  of  his  manhood.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
you  are  misled  by  his  appearance  of  maturity, 
and  expect  of  him  all  that  you  would  expect  of  a 
thoroughly  ripened  man,  then  you  are  very  likely 
to  find  yourself  disappointed. 

There  is  but  one  course  to  be  pursued  with  a 
youth  in  this  intermediate  stage.  He  must  be 
managed  with  tact,  firmness,  and  patience.  In 
dealing  with  the  young,  many  adults  fail  to  under- 
stand this,  and  in  dealing  with  a  nation  in  a  cor- 
responding state  of  evolution,  other  nations  are  as  a 
rule  even  stupider  than  adult  individuals. 

Britain,  wisest  of  all  the  world  in  international 
affairs,  has  not  made  this  mistake  in  her  relations 
with  Japan.  The  alliance  is  one  proof  of  it.  The 
visit  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Japan  to  England  in 
the  spring  of  1921,  is  another.  Nor  was  the  tact 
of  Britain  in  this  situation  ever  better  displayed  than 
in  King  George's  speech,  when,  toasting  the  Imperial 
guest,  he  said: 

"Because  he  is  our  friend  we  are  not  afraid  for 
him  to  see  our  troubles.  We  know  his  sympathy 
is  with  us  and  that  he  will  understand." 

Would  that  the  United  States  might  draw  the 
simple  lesson  from  these  two  short  sentences  spoken 
by  England's  king.  Would  that  we  might  learn 
to  take  that  amiable  tone.  Would  that  Americans 
might  understand  how  instantly  the  Japanese — yes, 
and  all  other  nations — respond  to  such  approaches. 

The  problem   of  maintaining   friendly   relations 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  269 

with  this  neighbour  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific 
is  not,  in  truth,  nearly  so  difficult  as  many  of  our 
other  problems.  It  has  been  rendered  difficult 
chiefly  by  our  own  incredible  bungling. 

Among  men  a  bungler  is  oftentimes  feared  and  dis- 
liked exactly  as  if  he  were  malevolent,  and  among 
nations  the  situation  is  the  same.  No  nation,  how- 
ever strong,  can  afford  to  give  offence  unnecessarily 
to  other  great  powers;  and  the  United  States  can  least 
of  all  afford  to  irritate  needlessly  those  powers  with 
which  her  front  yard  and  her  back  yard  are  shared: 
namely,  Britain  and  Japan.  Yet  we  are  constantly 
annoying  these  two  nations  without  accomplishing 
any  counterbalancing  good  purpose. 

Britain,  feeling,  as  we  do,  the  tie  of  consanguinity, 
and  having,  moreover,  a  shrewd  eye  to  her  own  inter- 
est, forgives  us,  or  at  least  appears  to.  But  in  the 
case  of  Japan  we  are  dealing  with  a  very  different 
situation.  There  is  no  blood  relationship  to  ease  the 
strain;  nor  is  there  always  in  Tokyo  the  calm,  phleg- 
matic, self-interested  statesmanship  of  London. 
Tokyo  is  sometimes  temperamental. 

If  we  continue  to  bungle  we  shall  ultimately  gain 
the  lasting  ill-will  of  Japan,  and  if  we  do  that  we  shall 
almost  certainly  find  ourselves  looking  out  of  our  back 
window  not  merely  at  a  frowning  Nippon,  but  at  a 
coalition  between  Japan,  Russia,  and  Germany — a 
coalition  into  which  we  ourselves,  by  our  attitude, 
shall  have  driven  Japan. 

It  is  for  us  to  decide  whether  we  wish  to  encourage 
such  an  alliance. 


270          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

With  Mr.  Hughes  in  the  State  Department  we 
have,  it  appears,  good  reason  to  be  hopeful,  but  Mr. 
Hughes  has  not  as  yet  had  time  to  accomplish  much 
of  an  improvement  in  American-Japanese  relations. 
If  he  does  so  he  will  be  the  first  American  statesman 
to  have  made  headway  in  the  matter  since  Roosevelt 
was  in  the  White  House  and  Elihu  Root  in  the 
State  Department;  for  not  since  their  time  has  there 
been  evident  in  our  dealings  with  Japan  a  definite 
and  understanding  policy.  The  failure  of  our  di- 
plomacy is  all  too  plainly  reflected  in  the  steady 
diminution  of  the  good  feeling  which  then  existed. 

Though  he  never  visited  Japan,  Roosevelt,  with 
his  amazing  understanding  of  people,  managed  to 
sense  the  Japanese  perfectly.  He  knew  their  virtues 
and  their  failings.  He  realized  precisely  the  state 
they  had  attained  in  their  evolution  from  mediaeval- 
ism  to  modernity.  He  knew  their  samurai  loyalty 
and  pride,  their  sensitiveness,  their  love  of  courtesy. 

"Speak  softly  and  carry  a  big  stick,"  he  used  to 
say.  In  those  words  is  summed  up  a  large  part 
of  his  foreign  policy.  He  knew  when  to  send  a  bear- 
skin to  the  Emperor,  and  when  to  send  a  fleet. 

Even  when  he  sent  that  fleet  of  sixteen  battleships, 
the  visit  paid  was  one  of  courtesy.  And  courtesy, 
as  I  have  tried  to  show,  is  never,  never  lost  upon 
Japan. 


PART    IV 


CHAPTER    XXII 

The  Missing  Lunch — The  Japanese  Chauffeur — the  Little 
Train — Japanese  Railroads — The  Railway  Lunch — The 
Railway  Teapot — Reflections  on  Some  American  Ways — 
Are  the  Japanese  Honest? — A  Story  of  Viscount  Shibusawa 
—Travelling  Customs — An  Eavesdropping  Episode 

NEITHER  the  box  of  lunch  nor  the  automobile 
to  take  us  to  the  station  was  ready,  though 
both  had  been  ordered  the  previous  night. 
We  waited  until  twenty  minutes  before  train  time; 
then  made  a  dash  for  the  station  in  a  taxi  which 
happened    along    providentially — something    taxis 
seldom  do  in  Tokyo. 

The  drive  took  us  several  miles  across  the  city. 
Through  a  picturesque  and  incoherent  jumble  of 
street  traffic,  over  canals,  past  the  huge  concrete 
amphitheatre  in  which  wrestling  bouts  are  held, 
across  a  steel  bridge  spanning  the  Sumida  River, 
through  a  maze  of  muddy  streets  lined  with  open- 
fronted  shops  partially  protected  from  the  hot  sun 
by  curtains  of  indigo  cotton  bearing  advertisements 
in  large  white  Chinese  characters,  we  flew  precari- 
ously, facing  collisions  half  a  dozen  times  yet  magic- 
ally escaping  them  as  one  always  does  behind  a 
Japanese  chauffeur.  It  is  said  that  the  Japanese 
chauffeur  is  not,  as  a  rule,  a  good  mechanic.  As 

273 


274  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  that  I  cannot  say,  but  I  assure  you  he  can  drive. 
At  an  incredible  speed  he  will  whirl  you  through 
the  dense  slow-moving  crowds  of  a  street  festival 
or  around  the  hairpin  curves  of  a  muddy  mountain 
pass  with  one  wheel  following  the  slippery  margin 
of  a  precipice,  but  he  will  never  hurt  so  much  as  a 
hair  of  your  head,  unless,  perchance,  it  hurts  your 
hair  to  stand  on  end. 

The  Ryogoku  Station,  where  we  found  our  friends 
awaiting  us,  is  a  modest  frame  structure,  terminus 
of  an  unimportant  railway  line  serving  the  farming 
and  fishing  villages  of  the  Boso  Peninsula — which 
depends  from  the  mainland  in  such  a  way  as  to  form 
the  barrier  between  Tokyo  Bay  and  the  Pacific. 

The  train  seemed  to  have  been  awaiting  us.  It 
started  as  soon  as  we  had  boarded  it,  and  was  pre- 
sently rocking  along  through  open  country  at  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  an  hour.  There  was  something 
of  solemn  playfulness  about  that  little  train.  The 
cars  were  no  heavier  than  street  cars  and  the  locomo- 
tive would  have  made  hard  work  of  drawing  a 
pair  of  Pullmans,  yet  in  its  present  role  it  gave  a 
pompous  performance,  hissing,  whistling,  and  snort- 
ing as  importantly  as  if  it  had  been  the  engine  of  a 
great  express.  The  little  guards,  too,  joined  gravely 
in  the  game,  calling  out  the  names  of  country 
stations  as  majestically  as  if  each  were  a  metro- 
polis. And  the  very  landscape  took  its  place  in  the 
whimsy,  for  our  toy  train  ran  over  it  as  over  a  flat 
rug  patterned  with  little  green  rice  fields. 

The  Japanese  Government,  which  so  woefully 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  275 

mishandles  its  telephones  and  cables,  does  better 
with  its  railroads.  They  are  fairly  well  run.  Trains 
are  almost  invariably  on  time,  and  the  cars  are 
not  uncomfortable,  although  the  narrower  gauge 
of  the  Japanese  roads  makes  them  necessarily 
smaller  than  our  cars. 

The  ordinary  Japanese  sleeping-car  is  divided 
into  halves.  One  half  is  like  an  American  Pull- 
man sleeper,  very  much  scaled  down  in  size,  while 
the  other  half  resembles  a  European  wagon-lit  in 
miniature,  with  a  narrow  aisle  at  one  side  and  com- 
partments in  which  the  berths  are  arranged  trans- 
versely to  the  train. 

As  in  Europe,  there  are  three  classes  of  day  coaches. 
Except  where  trains  are  overcrowded,  as  they  often 
are,  one  may  travel  quite  as  comfortably  second- 
class  as  first.  Coaches  of  all  three  classes  are  like 
street  cars  with  long  seats  running  from  end  to  end 
at  either  side.  Usually  the  car  is  divided  in  the 
middle  by  a  partition,  the  theory  being  that  one 
end  is  for  smokers;  but  in  pratice  the  Japanese, 
who  are  inveterate  users  of  tobacco,  seem  to  smoke 
when  and  where  they  please  while  travelling. 

Express  trains  carry  dining  cars  which  are  like 
small  reproductions  of  ours.  Some  of  these  diners 
serve  Japanese-style  meals,  some  European,  and 
some  both. 

Much  thought  has  evidently  been  given  to  making 
travel  easy  for  English-speaking  people.  Each 
car  of  every  train  carries  a  sign  giving,  in  English, 
the  train's  destination;  time-tables  printed  in  Eng- 


276  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

lish  are  easily  obtained,  railroad  tickets  are  printed 
in  both  languages,  and  the  name  of  each  town  is 
trebly  set  forth  on  railroad  station  signs,  being 
displayed  in  English,  in  Chinese  characters,  and  in 
kana. 

As  in  the  United  States,  station  porters  wear  red 
caps  but  they  have  the  European  trick  of  passing 
baggage  in  and  out  of  the  car  windows,  so  that  the 
doorways  are  not  blocked  with  it  when  passengers 
wish  to  get  on  and  off.  Also  at  stations  of  any 
consequence  there  are  boys  wearing  green  caps, 
who  peddle  newspapers,  tea,  and  lunches. 

The  Japanese  railway  lunch  is  an  institution  as 
highly  organized  as  the  English  railway  lunch. 
On  the  platforms  of  all  large  stations  you  can  pur- 
chase almost  any  sort  of  lunch  you  desire,  neatly 
wrapped  in  paper  napkins  and  packed  in  an  im- 
maculate wooden  box.  On  each  box  the  date  is 
stamped,  so  that  the  traveller  may  be  sure  that 
everything  is  fresh.  You  may  get  a  box  containing 
liberal  portions  of  roast  chicken  and  Kamakura 
ham,  with  salad  and  hard-boiled  eggs  and  a  dainty 
bamboo  knife  and  fork;  or  if  you  wish  a  light  repast, 
a  box  of  assorted  sandwiches,  thin  and  moist  as 
sandwiches  should  always  be  but  so  seldom  are. 
Or,  again,  you  may  get  a  variety  of  Japanese  dishes, 
similarly  packed. 

On  this  trip  I  selected  a  box  of  that  delicacy 
known  as  tai-meshi,  and  was  not  sorry  that  my  order 
for  lunch  had  been  overlooked  at  the  hotel.  Tai- 
meshi  consists  of  a  palatable  combination  of  rice 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  277 

and  shredded  sea-bream  cooked  in  a  sauce  containing 
sake  which  obliterates  the  fishy  taste  of  the  sea- 
bream.  The  box  cost  me  the  equivalent  of  seventeen 
cents,  chop-sticks  included.  From  the  green-cap 
boy  who  sold  it  to  me  I  also  purchased,  for  five 
cents,  an  earthenware  pot  containing  tea,  and  a  small 
cup,  and  when  I  had  drunk  the  tea  I  learned  that 
I  could  have  the  pot  refilled  with  hot  water  at 
practically  any  station,  for  a  couple  of  cents  more. 
Just  as  your  English  traveller  leaves  the  railway 
lunch  basket  in  the  train  when  he  is  done  with  it,  your 
Japanese  traveller  leaves  the  teapot  and  cup. 
Drinking  the  philosopher's  beverage  I  found  myself 
wondering  whether  such  a  system  would  be  suc- 
cessful in  the  United  States.  I  concluded  that  it 
would  not.  Some  of  the  lunch-baskets  and  teapots 
Would  get  back  to  their  rightful  owners,  but  many 
would  disappear.  There  is  a  certain  type  of  Ameri- 
can, and  he  is  numerous,  who  has  a  constitutional 
aversion  to  conforming  to  a  nice,  orderly  custom 
of  this  kind.  He  has  too  much — let  us  call  it 
initiative — for  that.  If  he  thought  the  lunch- 
basket  and  teapot  worth  taking  home  he  would 
take  them  home;  nor  would  he  be  deterred  by  the 
mere  fact  that  they  were  not  his,  having  only  been 
rented  to  him.  His  subconscious  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  his  own  "personality"  would  lift  him 
over  any  little  obstacle  of  that  kind.  Without 
thinking  matters  out  he  would  feel  that  because 
he  had  used  them  they  were  his.  What  he  had  used 
no  one  else  should  use — even  though  its  usefulness 


278  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  him  was  past.  Wherefore,  if  he  thought  the 
basket  and  the  teapot  not  worth  taking,  he  would 
stamp  his  "personality"  upon  them.  He  might 
take  the  basket  apart  to  see  how  it  was  made,  or 
he  might  draw  out  his  penknife  and  cut  holes  in  it. 
Then  he  would  consider  what  to  do  with  the  teapot. 
Finding  that  it  fitted  nicely  in  the  palm  of  his  hand, 
and  sensing  by  touch  its  brittleness,  he  would  want 
to  use  it  as  a  missile.  If  he  prided  himself  on  the 
accuracy  of  his  pitching  he  would  throw  it  at  a 
telegraph  pole,  but  if  he  felt  quite  certain  that  he 
could  not  hit  a  pole  he  would  wait  for  a  large  rock 
pile  or  a  factory  wall,  and  would  hurl  it  against 
that  with  all  his  might,  to  make  the  largest  possible 
explosion. 

People  often  ask  me  whether  the  Japanese  are 
honest.  Doubt  on  this  subject  is,  I  believe,  largely 
due  to  the  old  story  that  Chinese  tellers  are  em- 
ployed *  in  Japanese  banks — all  Chinamen  being 
trustworthy  and  all  Japanese  the  reverse.  I  know 
of  no  better  example  of  the  vitality  of  a  lie  than  is 
afforded  by  the  survival  of  this  one.  It  is  a  triple 
lie.  Japanese  banks  do  not  have  Chinese  tellers. 
The  Japanese  as  a  race  are  no  more  dishonest  than 
other  people.  The  leading  bankers  of  Japan,  many 
of  whom  I  have  met,  are  men  of  the  highest  character 
and  the  greatest  enlightenment,  and  would  be  so 
recognized  in  any  land.  Nor  is  this  merely  my 
opinion.  It  is  the  opinion  I  have  heard  expressed 
by  several  of  the  greatest  bankers  and  manufacturers 


Pretty  Gen  was  between  the  shafts,  the  other  girl  was  pulling 
at  a  rope,  and  the  grandmother  was  at  the  rear,  pushing 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  279 

in  the  United  States — men  who  have  done  business 
with  Japanese  bankers  and  who  know  them  thor- 
oughly. 

It  is  true  that  trademarks  and  patented  articles 
manufactured  in  other  countries  have  been  stolen  by 
some  Japanese  manufacturers  and  merchants,  and 
that  this  abominable  practice  is  to  some  extent  kept 
up  even  to-day.  But  conditions  in  this  respect  are 
improving  as  business  morality  grows.  Nor  should 
it  be  forgotten  that  the  present  standard  of  inter- 
national commercial  ethics,  which  so  strongly 
reprehends  such  thefts,  is  comparatively  a  new  thing 
throughout  the  entire  world.  It  must,  however,  be 
admitted  that  Japan  is  not,  in  this  particular,  fully 
abreast  of  the  other  great  nations. 

As  for  the  average  of  probity  among  the  people 
at  large  I  can  say  this — that  if  I  were  obliged  to  risk 
leaving  a  valuable  possession  in  a  public  place, 
on  the  chance  of  its  being  found  by  an  honest  per- 
son and  returned  to  me,  I  should  prefer  to  take 
the  risk  in  Japan,  than  in  most  other  countries. 
Certainly,  I  should  prefer  to  take  it  there  than 
in  the  United  States — unless  I  could  specify  certain 
rural  sections  of  the  United  States,  where  I  should 
feel  that  my  chances  were  better  than  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  New  York. 

The  Japanese  are  respecters  of  property,  private 
and  public.  One  may  visit  the  historic  buildings  of 
Japan  without  seeing  a  single  evidence  of  vandalism. 
I  was  immensely  struck  by  this.  It  was  so  unlike 
home!  More  than  once,  over  there,  I  thought  of  a 


280  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

visit  I  paid,  some  years  ago,  to  Monticello,  the  beauti- 
ful old  mansion  built  near  Charlottesville,  Virginia, 
by  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  of  what  the  caretaker 
told  me.  All  visitors,  he  said,  had  to  be  watched. 
Otherwise  vines  would  be  torn  from  the  walls  of  the 
house,  bricks  chipped,  and  marble  statuary  broken. 
They  had  even  found  it  necessary  to  build  an  iron 
fence  around  Jefferson's  grave  to  protect  the  monu- 
ment from  American  patriots  who  would  like  to 
take  home  little  pieces  of  it. 

The  custom  of  visiting  historic  places  and  the 
graves  of  historic  figures  is  much  more  common  in 
Japan  than  in  America.  Many  of  Japan's  most  fa- 
mous monuments  are  entirely  unprotected,  but  in- 
stead of  knocking  them  to  pieces  to  get  souvenirs 
the  pilgrim  will  burn  a  little  incense  before  them, 
and  perhaps  leave  his  visiting  card  on  the  spirit 
of  the  departed.  Or  he  may  write  a  poem. 

Dr.  John  H.  Finley  has  told  me  a  story  which  well 
illustrates  the  delicate  and  reverential  attitude  of  the 
Japanese  in  such  matters. 

When  Baron — now  Viscount — Shibusawa  came 
to  the  United  States  several  years  ago,  a  banquet  was 
given  in  his  honour  in  New  York  by  the  Japan 
Society,  of  which  Doctor  Finley  was  then  president. 

At  the  banquet  Doctor  Finley  remarked  to  the  guest 
of  honour  that  he  heard  he  had  sent  an  emissary 
with  a  wreath  to  be  laid  upon  the  grave  of  Townsend 
Harris,  first  American  Minister  to  Japan,  who  is 
buried  in  Brooklyn. 

"No,"  said  Baron  Shibusawa,  "that  is  not  exactly 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  281 

what  occurred.  I  did  not  send  the  wreath.  I 
took  it  myself  and  laid  it  on  the  grave.  And  I 
wrote  two  poems  in  memory  of  Townsend  Harris 
and  hung  them  in  the  branches  of  a  Japanese  maple 
tree  overhanging  his  resting-place." 

But  let  us  get  back  to  our  little  railroad  train, 
The  men  among  our  Japanese  fellow  travellers 
were  sitting  on  the  seats  with  their  feet  on  the  floor,  as 
we  do,  but  the  women  and  children  had  slipped  off 
their  clogs  and  were  squatting  in  the  seats  with  their 
backs  to  the  aisle,  looking  out  of  the  windows  or 
dozing  with  their  heads  resting  upon  their  hands, 
or  against  the  window-frame.  One  elderly  lady 
was  lying  at  full  length  on  the  seat,  asleep,  with 
her  bare  feet  resting  on  the  cushions. 

The  Japanese  are  much  less  fearful  than  we  of  the 
interest  of  fellow  passengers,  and  indeed,  so  far  as  con- 
cerns strangers  of  their  own  race,  they  are  justified  in 
this,  for  Japanese  travellers  pay  little  or  no  attention 
to  one  another.  In  foreigners  they  are  more  inter- 
ested. A  Japanese  who  can  speak  English  will  fre- 
quently start  a  conversation  with  the  traveller  from 
abroad,  and  will  almost  invariably  endeavour  to  be 
helpful.  Rustics  stare  at  the  stranger  with  a  sort  of 
dumb  interest,  just  as  American  rustics  might  stare 
at  a  Japanese;  and  young  Japanese  louts  sometimes 
snicker  when  they  see  a  foreigner,  and  comment  upon 
hun,  just  as  young  American  louts  might  do  on  seeing 
a  Japanese  passing  by — especially  if  he  was  wearing 
his  national  costume. 


282  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"Pipe  the  Jap,"  a  New  York  street-corner  loafer 
might  exclaim;  while  similarly  an  ill-bred  youth  of 
Tokyo,  Kobe  or  Yokohama  might  remark:  " Keto," 
which  means  "hairy  foreigner."  The  term  keto 
is  not  intended  to  be  complimentary,  yet  no  more 
real  harm  is  meant  by  its  user  than  would  be  meant 
by  an  American  smart-aleck  who  should  speak  of 
* '  chinks, "  ' '  kykes  "  or  * '  micks. ' '  Such  terms  merely 
exemph'fy  the  instinctive  hostility  of  small-minded 
men  the  world  over,  for  all  who  are  not  exactly  like 
themselves. 

Some  Japanese  country  folk  who  sat  opposite  us  on 
our  journey  to  the  Boso  Peninsula  were  clearly  much 
interested  in  us — particularly  in  the  ladies  of  our 
party,  and  as  so  few  foreigners  understand  the 
Japanese  language,  they  felt  safe  in  talking  us  over 
amongst  themselves. 

"What  a  strange  little  thing  to  wear  on  one's 
head!"  said  the  husband,  to  the  wife  referring  to  a 
neat  little  turban  worn  by  one  of  our  ladies. 

"Yes,"  said  the  wife,  "and  I  don't  see  how  she  can 
walk  in  those  shoes  with  their  tall,  thin  little  heels. 
Aren't  they  funny!" 

These  remarks  and  others  revealing  their  interested 
speculations  as  to  which  women  of  our  party  were 
married  to  which  men,  were  translated  to  us  by  the 
friend  who  had  organized  the  excursion.  Being  a 
good  deal  of  a  wag,  he  let  them  talk  about  us  until 
the  subject  seemed  to  be  exhausted.  Then  he  ad- 
dressed a  casual  question,  in  Japanese,  to  the  hus- 
band across  the  way.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  man 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  283 

look  more  disconcerted  than  that  one  did  just  then. 
He  answered  the  question,  but  that  was  the  last 
word  we  heard  him  speak.  Though  an  hour  passed 
before  he  and  his  wife  got  off  the  train,  and  though 
they  had  until  then  talked  volubly  together,  the 
complete  silence  which  came  over  them  was  not 
broken  by  so  much  as  a  monosyllable  until  they 
reached  the  station  platform.  There,  however,  we 
saw  that  they  had  begun  to  talk  again,  and  with 
gestures  showing  not  a  little  agitation.  I  had  a 
feeling  that  each  was  blaming  the  other  for  the  whole 
affair.  Relations  between  husband  and  wife  are, 
in  some  respects  at  least,  a  good  deal  more  alike  in 
all  countries  than  is  commonly  supposed. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

Katsuura  and  the  Basha — A  Noble  Coast — Scenes  on  a 
Country  Road — The  Fishers — A  Temple  and  Tame  Fish — 
We  Arrive  at  an  Inn — /  See  a  Bath — /  Take  One — Bathing 
Customs — The  Attentive  Nesan — In  the  Tub 

AOURNEY  of  about  three  and  a  half  hours 
brought  us  to  the  seacoast  town  of  Katsuura, 
the  terminus  of  the  little  railway  line. 
The  industry  of  Katsuura  is  fishing,  and  there  is  a 
kind  of  dried  fish  put  up  there  which  has  quite 
a  reputation.  Almost  every  town  in  Japan  has 
some  specialty  of  its  own,  whether  an  edible  or 
something  else — something  for  the  traveller  to 
purchase  and  take  home  as  a  souvenir.  Many  of 
the  best  Japanese  colour-prints  were  orginally  made 
for  this  purpose — souvenirs  of  cities  and  towns, 
celebrated  inns,  famous  actors,  and  notorious  cour- 
tesans. 

Leaving  the  train  we  got  into  a  basha — a  primitive 
one-horse  bus  with  tiny  wheels — and  took  a  highway 
leading  south  along  the  shore.  The  day  was  brilliant 
and  our  road,  skirting  the  edge  of  the  lofty  coastal 
hills  half  way  between  their  green  serried  peaks 
and  the  yellow  beach  on  which  the  surf  played  be- 
low, was  white  and  dusty  in  the  hot  sun.  On  level 
stretches  and  down-grades  we  rode  in  the  basha, 

284 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  285 

but  we  always  got  out  and  walked  up  hills  to  spare 
the  venerable  horse.  Nor  will  travellers  who  have 
ever  followed  such  a  system  be  surprised  that,  of  the 
twenty  miles  we  covered  on  our  way  to  Kamogawa, 
fully  fifteen  seemed  to  be  up-hill  miles. 

This  shore  continually  reminded  me  af  other 
shores — Brittany,  in  the  region  of  Dinard  and  Can- 
cale,  and  the  cliffs  between  Sorrento  and  Amalfi. 
But  here  the  contours  were  more  tender.  Many  a 
beach  I  saw,  with  tiny  houses  strewn  along  the 
margin  of  the  sand,  fishing  boats  drawn  up  in  rows, 
and  swarthy  men  and  women  bustling  about  among 
the  nets  and  baskets,  which  made  me  think  of  the 
Marina  at  Capri.  Even  the  air  was  that  of  Capri 
in  the  springtime.  But  here  there  was  no  song. 

A  succession  of  lofty  promontories  jutting  ag- 
gressively toward  the  sea  gave  interest  to  the  road. 
Sometimes  they  turned  its  course,  forcing  it  to 
swing  out  around  them;  in  other  cases  tunnels 
penetrated  the  barrier  hills,  and  we  would  find 
ourselves  trudging  along  beside  the  basha,  through 
damp  echoing  darkness,  with  our  eyes  fixed  on  a 
distant  point  of  light,  marking  the  exit,  ahead. 

It  was  a  much-travelled  road.  We  were  contin- 
ually meeting  other  bashas  creaking  slowly  through 
the  white  dust,  or  drawn  up  before  inns  and  tea- 
houses where  passengers  were  pausing  for  refresh- 
ment. During  the  entire  afternoon  we  met  not  a 
single  automobile,  and  when,  after  an  hour  or  two,  a 
Japanese  lady,  beautifully  dressed  and  sheltered 
from  the  sun  by  a  large  parasol,  flashed  past  in  a 


286  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

shining  ricksha  propelled  by  two  coolies,  she  made  a 
picture  strangely  sophisticated,  elegantly  exotic, 
against  the  background  of  that  dusty  country  high- 
way so  full  of  humble  folk. 

All  the  women  of  this  region  wer.e  hard  at  work. 
Some  were  labouring  beside  their  husbands  in  the 
mud  and  water  of  the  paddy  fields,  others  were 
occupied  upon  the  beach,  piling  up  kelp  and  carrying 
it  back  to  huge  wooden  tubs  in  which  it  was  being 
boiled  to  get  the  juice  from  which  iodine  is  extracted, 
still  others  were  transporting  baskets  of  fresh 
shiny  fish  from  the  newly  landed  boats  to  the  village 
markets,  or  were  drawing  heavy  carts  laden  with 
fish-baskets  from  one  village  to  another.  For  this 
coast  is  the  greatest  fishing  district  of  all  Japan. 

On  the  streets  of  every  village  we  saw  fish  being 
handled — large,  brilliant  fish  laid  out  in  rows  on 
straw  mats,  preparatory  to  shipment,  huge  tubs 
of  smaller  fish,  and  great  baskets  of  silver  sardines. 
Nor  was  our  awareness  of  piscatorial  activities  due 
only  to  the  organs  of  sight.  Now  and  then  a  gust 
of  information  reached  the  olfactory  organs  disclosing 
with  a  frankness  that  was  unmistakable,  the  prox- 
imity of  a  pile  of  rotted  herring,  which  is  used  to  fer- 
tilize the  fields. 

Winding  down  a  hill  through  a  grove  of  ancient 
trees,  with  the  sea  glistening  between  the  trunks 
on  one  side  of  the  way,  we  came  upon  a  weathered 
temple,  and,  rounding  it  from  the  rear,  found  a  tiny 
village  clustered  at  its  base,  in  as  sweet  a  little  cove 
as  one  could  wish  to  see — low,  brown  houses  nestling 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  287 

among  rocks  and  gnarled  pines,  a  crescent  of  yellow 
beach  with  fishing  boats  drawn  up  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  tide,  and  children  playing  among  them  looking 
like  nude  bronzes  come  to  life. 

This  place,  known  as  Tai-no-ura — Sea-bream  Coast 
— small  and  remote  as  it  is,  has  a  fame  which  extends 
throughout  Japan.  For  it  was  the  abiding  place 
of  the  thirteenth-century  fisherman-priest  Nichiren, 
who,  though  he  antedated  Martin  Luther  by  about 
two  and  a  half  centuries,  is  sometimes  called  the 
Martin  Luther  of  Japanese  Buddhism.  The  Nichi- 
ren sect  is  to  this  day  powerful,  having  more  than 
five  thousand  temples  and  a  million  and  a  half 
adherents.  Its  scriptures  are  known  as  the  Hok- 
kekyo,  and  I  find  a  certain  quaint  interest  in  the 
fact  that,  because  this  word  suggests  the  call  of  the 
Japanese  nightingale,  the  feathered  songster  is 
known  by  a  name  which  means  "scripture-reading 
bird." 

The  old  weathered  temple,  which  we  visited,  is 
known  as  the  Tanjo-ji,  or  Nativity  Temple,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  established  in  1286,  but  to  me  the 
most  appealing  thing  about  this  district  is  the  re- 
spect which  to  this  day  is  accorded  Nichiren' s 
prohibition  against  the  catching  of  fish  along  this 
sacred  shore.  The  fishermen  of  Tai-no-ura  go  far 
out  before  casting  their  nets,  and  this  has  been 
the  case  for  so  long  that  the  fish  have  come  to  under- 
stand that  they  are  safe  inshore,  and  will  rise  to 
the  surface  if  one  knocks  upon  the  gunwale  of  a 
boat. 


288          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

I  should  have  liked  to  linger  at  this  place,  but 
the  afternoon  was  waning  and  we  had  still  half  a 
dozen  miles  or  more  to  go. 

Sunset  was  suspended  like  a  rosy  fluid  in  the  air 
when  our  basha  drove  down  the  main  street  of 
Kamogawa  and  stopped  before  the  door  of  the  inn. 

To  an  American,  accustomed  to  the  casual  recep- 
tion accorded  hotel  guests  in  his  native  land,  the 
experience  of  arriving  at  a  well-conducted  Japanese 
inn  is  almost  sensational.  The  wheels  of  our 
vehicle  had  hardly  ceased  to  turn  when  a  flock  of 
servitors  came  running  out  to  welcome  and  to 
aid  us.  A  pair  of  coolies  whisked  our  bags  into  the 
portico,  and  as  we  followed  we  were  escorted  by  the 
gray-haired  proprietress  and  a  bevy  of  nesans, 
all  of  them  beaming  at  us  and  bowing  profoundly 
from  the  waist. 

While  I  sat  on  the  doorstep  removing  my  shoes, 
two  coolies  came  from  the  rear  of  the  building  bear- 
ing between  them  a  pole  from  which  two  huge 
buckets  of  hot  water  were  suspended.  Pushing 
back  a  sliding  paper  door  they  entered  an  adjoining 
room.  A  moment  later  I  heard  a  great  splashing, 
as  of  water  being  poured,  and  looking  after  them 
saw  that  they  were  emptying  their  buckets  into  a 
large  stationary  tub  built  of  wood.  Nor  was  I 
the  only  witness  to  the  preparation  of  the  bath. 
Two  Japanese  women  and  three  children  stood  by, 
waiting  to  use  it.  And  they  were  all  ready  to  get  in. 

There  was  something  superbly  matter-of-fact 
about  this  whole  performance  which  gave  me  a 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

sudden  flash  of  understanding.  All  the  explaining 
in  the  world  could  not  have  told  me  so  much  about 
the  Japanese  point  of  view  on  matters  of  this  kind 
as  came  through  witnessing  this  picture. 

Adam  and  Eve  were  not  progenitors  of  these  people 
nor  was  the  apple  a  fruit  indigenous  to  Japan. 

The  other  members  of  our  party  were  preparing  to 
bathe  in  the  sea  before  dinner,  but  I  desired  a  hot 
bath  and  had  asked  for  it  as  soon  as  I  arrived.  While 
in  my  room  preparing  I  found  myself  wondering 
whether  I  was  about  to  have  an  experience  in  mixed 
bathing,  and  if  so  how  well  my  philosophy  would 
stand  the  strain. 

But  the  peculiar  notions  of  foreigners  concerning 
privacy  in  the  bath  were,  it  appeared,  not  unknown 
to  the  proprietress  of  the  inn.  When  I  descended 
the  stairs  arrayed  in  the  short  cotton  kimono 
provided  by  the  establishment,  I  was  not  shown  to 
the  large  bathroom  near  the  entrance,  but  was  taken 
in  tow  by  a  little  nesan,  who  indicated  to  me  that 
I  was  to  put  on  wooden  clogs — a  row  of  which  stood 
by  the  door — and  follow  her  across  the  street  to  the 
annex. 

The  bath  was  ready.  Entering  the  room  with 
me  the  nesan  slipped  the  door  shut  and  in  a  business- 
like manner  which  could  be  interpreted  in  but  one 
way,  began  looping  back  her  sleeve-ends  with  cord. 

"She  intends  to  scrub  you!"  shrieked  all  that  was 
conventional  within  me.  "Put  her  out!" 

"But  don't  you  like  to  be  scrubbed?"  demanded 
the  inner  philosopher. 


290  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"Her  being  a  woman  makes  me  self-conscious," 
I  replied  to  my  other  self. 

"It  shouldn't.  Your  being  a  man  doesn't  make 
her  self-conscious.  What  was  it  we  were  saying  a 
little  while  ago  about  false  modesty?" 

"As  nearly  as  I  can  remember,"  replied  Conven- 
tion, evasively,  "we  agreed  that  Americans  are 
full  of  false  modesty." 

Whereupon  I  turned  to  the  little  nesan  and  with  a 
gesture  in  the  direction  of  the  door  exclaimed, 
"Scat!" 

Understanding  the  meaning  of  the  motion  if  not 
the  word,  she  obediently  scatted,  closing  the  door 
behind  her.  She  did  not  go  far,  however.  Through 
the  paper  I  could  hear  her  whispering  with  another 
nesan  in  the  corridor.  I  went  to  the  door  with  the 
purpose  of  fastening  it,  but  there  was  no  catch 
with  which  to  do  so.  This  left  me  with  a  certain 
feeling  of  insecurity  as  I  bathed. 

A  well-ordered  Japanese  bathroom,  such  as  this 
one  was,  has  a  false  floor  of  wood  with  drains  be- 
neath it,  so  that  one  may  splatter  about  with  the 
utmost  abandon.  One  does  one's  acftial  washing 
outside  the  tub,  rinsing  off  with  warm  water  dipped 
in  a  pail  from  a  covered  tank  at  one  end  of  the  tub. 
Not  until  the  cleansing  process  has  been  completed 
does  one  enter  the  water  to  soak  and  get  warm. 
Bathtubs  in  hotels  and  prosperous  homes  are  large, 
and  the  size  of  them  makes  the  preparation  of  a  bath 
a  laborious  business;  for  running  hot  water  is  a 
luxury  as  yet  practically  unknown  in  Japan,  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  291 

water  for  a  bath  being  heated  either  in  the  kitchen, 
or  by  means  of  a  little  charcoal  stove  attached 
to  the  outside  of  the  tub.  To  heat  the  bath  by 
the  latter  system,  which  is  the  one  generally  used, 
takes  an  hour  or  two;  wherefore  it  is  obviously 
impracticable  to  prepare  a  separate  bath  for  each 
member  of  the  household.  In  a  private  house  one 
tub  of  water  generally  does  for  all. 

Foreigners  newly  arrived  in  Japan  are  unpleas- 
antly impressed  by  this  system  of  bathing,  and  in  a 
Japanese  inn  they  generally  make  a  great  point  of 
having  first  chance  at  the  bath. 

Though  I  do  not  expect  to  convince  the  reader 
that  what  I  say  is  so,  I  must  bear  testimony  to  the 
truth  that  it  is  the  idea  rather  than  the  fact  of  the 
Japanese  bath  which  is  at  first  unpleasant.  You 
must  understand  that  the  Japanese  are  physically 
the  cleanest  race  of  people  in  the  world;  that,  as  I 
have  already  said,  they  bathe  fully  before  entering 
the  tub;  that  the  tubbing  is  less  a  part  of  the  cleans- 
ing process  than  a  means  for  getting  warm;  and  finally 
that  the  water  in  a  tub  which  has  been  used  by 
several  persons  looks  as  fresh  as  when  first  drawn. 

I  once  asked  a  cosmopolitan  Japanese  whether 
he  did  not  prefer  our  system  of  bathing.  He  replied 
that  he  did  not.  "I  don't  think  your  way  is  quite 
so  clean  as  ours,"  he  explained.  "Not  unless  you 
take  two  baths,  one  after  the  other,  as  I  always 
do  when  I  am  in  Europe  or  America.  I  wash  in 
the  first  bath.  Then  I  draw  a  fresh  tub  to  rinse 
off  in." 


292  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Just  as  this  gentleman  prefers  his  native  style 
of  bathing  I  prefer  mine;  yet  I  should  not  object 
to  succeeding  him  in  the  bath.  Nor  am  I  alone  in 
liking  the  deep  spaciousness  of  the  large-size  Japan- 
ese bathtub.  An  American  gentleman  who  was  in 
Japan  when  I  was  is  having  a  Japanese  bathroom 
built  into  his  house  near  New  York. 

With  the  bath  of  the  proletariat  the  system  is 
the  same,  but  the  tub  is  smaller  and  less  convenient. 
It  consists  of  what  is  practically  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  large  barrel  with  a  small  charcoal  stove 
attached  to  one  side.  Often  it  stands  out-of-doors. 

On  emerging  from  the  hot  water  I  found  myself 
without  a  towel.  I  went  to  the  door,  opened  it 
sufficiently  to  put  my  head  out  through  the  aperture 
and  summond  the  nesan  who  stood  near  by. 

"Towel,"  I  said. 

She  smiled  and  shook  her  head,  uncomprehending. 

I  opened  the  door  a  little  wider,  thrust  out  one 
arm  and  made  rubbing  motions  on  it. 

"  Hail "  she  exclaimed,  brightly,  and  went  scamper- 
ing off. 

As  it  was  chilly  in  the  room  I  returned  to  the  hot 
tub  to  wait.  There  I  remained  for  some  minutes. 
Then  it  occurred  to  me  that,  understanding  my  de- 
sire for  privacy  in  the  bath,  the  nesan  might  be 
waiting  outside  with  my  towel,  so  I  got  out  again 
with  the  intention  of  looking  into  the  hall. 

'  Just  as  I  emerged,  however,  the  door  opened  and 
in  she  came. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  293 

"Scat!"  I  cried.  Whereupon  she  handed  me  two 
towels  and  fled. 

It  was  well  that  she  did  bring  two,  for  the  native 
towel  consists  of  a  strip  of  thin  cotton  cloth  hardly 
larger  than  a  table  napkin.  The  Japanese  do  not 
pretend  to  dry  themselves  thoroughly  with  these 
towels,  but,  as  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned,  wring 
them  out  in  hot  water  and  use  them  as  a  mop,  after 
which  they  go  out  and  let  the  air  finish  the  work. 

I  dried  myself  as  best  I  could,  slipped  into  the 
cotton  kimono,  and  returned  to  the  main  building 
of  the  inn. 

In  the  corridor  I  encountered  my  friend  the 
linguist. 

"I  want  to  take  a  photograph  of  that  bathtub," 
I  told  him. 

"It  won't  explain  itself  in  a  photograph,"  he 
returned,  "unless  there's  somebody  in  it." 

I  knew  what  he  meant.  An  American  or  Euro- 
pean, accustomed  to  the  style  of  bathtub  that  stands 
upon  the  floor,  would  naturally  assume  from  a  pic- 
ture of  this  one  that  it  was  similarly  set.  But  that 
was  not  so.  It  extended  perhaps  two  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  floor;  there  was  a  step  half-way 
down  the  inside  to  aid  one  in  getting  in  or  out;  it 
was  so  deep  that  a  short  person  standing  in  it  would 
be  immersed  almost  to  the  shoulders. 

"You  get  in  it,  then,  will  you?" 

"You  ought  to  have  a  Japanese." 

"But  that's  out  of  the  question." 

"No,  it  isn't." 


294  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

Nor  was  it.  By  the  time  I  got  my  kodak  and 
put  in  a  roll  of  film  he  had  a  subject  for  me. 

It  was  the  little  nesan  to  whom  I  had  said  "scat!" 
Nor  could  a  grande  dame  in  an  opera  box  have  ex- 
hibited more  aplomb  than  she  did  when  I  photo- 
graphed her. 


The  middle-aged  coolie  hurriedly  seated  himself  on  the  bank 
to  pass  us  in  review 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

A  Walk  in  a  Kimono — Dinner  at  the  Inn — Sweet  Servitors 
—An  Evening's  Enchantment — The  Disadvantages  ofRamma 
— My  Neighbours  Retire — A  Japanese  Bed — Breakfast — • 
"Bear's  Milk" — The  Village  of  Nabuto — An  Island  and  a 
Cave — The  Abelone  Divers — A  Sail  with  Fishermen 

"T  ET'S  take  a  walk  before  dinner," said  the 
linguist  when  our  photographic  enterprise 

-* — *   had  been  accomplished. 

"All  right.     I'll  go  and  dress." 

"Come  as  you  are." 

"After  a  hot  bath  I  might  take  cold  in  this  thin 
kimono." 

"No.  That's  a  curious  thing  about  hot  baths  in 
Japan.  The  reaction  from  them  is  much  like  that 
we  get  at  home  from  cold  ones." 

"But,  dressed  this  way,  won't  we  look  queer?" 
I  surveyed  the  lower  hem  of  my  kimono  which  hung 
only  a  little  below  my  knees. 

"It's  the  costume  of  the  country." 

"But  it's  awfully  short  on  us.  It  seems  to  me  we 
ought  to  put  on  underwear  at  least." 

"Nonsense.  A  man  doesn't  know  what  comfort 
is  until  he  has  strolled  out  in  a  kimono  after  a  bath." 

Our  costumes  were  identical.  We  looked  equally 
absurd.  I  consented. 

£95 


296  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

My  one  difficulty  on  that  stroll  was  with  my  clogs. 
I  could  not  walk  as  fast  as  my  companion,  nor  did 
I  dare  to  lift  my  feet  from  the  ground  lest  the  clogs 
should  fall  off.  And  yet  I  can  see  that  if  one  is 
brought  up  on  clogs  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  their 
favour.  They  are  durable  and  cheap.  They  neither 
suffocate  nor  cramp  the  foot. 

Once  I  spoke  to  a  Japanese  friend  of  the  merits 
of  the  clog,  but  though  he  admitted  that  his  clog- 
wearing  countrymen  had  no  trouble  with  their  feet, 
he  thought  clogs,  on  the  whole,  a  bad  thing.  "The 
movement  for  good  roads  in  Japan,"  he  said,  "started 
when  people  began  to  wear  shoes.  Those  who  wear 
clogs  do  not  object  to  bad  pavements,  and  we  shall 
never  get  good  ones  until  clogs  are  discarded  by  the 
majority." 

We  had  not  walked  a  block  before  I  perceived 
that  my  companion  had  not  overstated  the  case 
for  the  kimono  as  a  costume  for  a  stroll  on  a  balmy 
evening.  It  does  not  bind  one  anywhere,  but  leaves 
one's  arms  and  legs  delightfully  free.  Moreover 
the  air  penetrates  to  the  body,  and  the  feeling  of  it 
after  a  very  hot  bath  is  as  refreshing  as  an  alcohol 
rub. 

The  streets  were  full  of  people  many  of  them 
fishermen  dressed  much  as  we  were.  But  though 
reason  told  me  that  in  our  kimonos  we  were  less 
conspicuous  than  we  should  have  been  in  our  cus- 
tomary attire,  I  could  not  rid  myself  of  the  feeling 
that  we  were  masqueraders,  and  that  if  people  were 
to  recognize  us  through  the  darkness  for  foreigners, 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  297 

we  should  have  a  crowd  following  us.  Wherefore, 
though  our  promenade  proved  absolutely  unevent- 
ful, I  was  upon  the  whole  relieved  when,  after  having 
gone  the  length  of  the  main  street  and  back,  we  re- 
entered  the  hotel. 

Our  dinner  that  night  was  purely  Japanese;  the 
nesans  brought  the  usual  little  foot-high  lacquer 
tables  laden  with  covered  bowls  of  porcelain  and 
lacquer;  we  sat  upon  silken  cushions  on  the  matting 
in  the  linguist's  room  and  struggled  bravely  with 
our  chop-sticks. 

The  room  was  on  the  second  floor.  Through 
the  open  shoji  we  could  look  across  a  tiny  garden 
into  other  rooms,  open  like  ours  to  the  soft  evening 
air,  and  we  could  see  the  nesans  gliding  back  and 
forth  between  these  rooms  and  the  kitchen,  moving 
along  the  polished  wooden  floor  of  the  gallery  with 
their  characteristic  pigeon-toed  shuffle. 

In  an  American  hotel  our  little  party  would 
have  been  served  by  one  waiter;  here  we  were 
attended  by  three  nesans,  one  of  whom  squatted  on 
the  matting  beside  the  rice  bucket,  ready  to  help 
us  when  we  held  out  our  bowls  for  more  (for  we  had 
rice  with  our  soup,  our  fish,  and  our  tea),  while  the 
other  two  brought  things  from  the  kitchen,  below 
stairs.  And  no  matter  how  many  times  they  had 
been  in  the  room  before,  they  always  dropped  to 
their  knees,  on  entering,  and  bent  their  foreheads 
nearly  to  the  floor  in  respectful  salutation,  ere  they 
served  the  new  course. 

This  courtesy,  so  natural  to  them,  made  me  feel 


298  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

very,  very  far  from  home,  for  in  it  seemed  to  be 
crystallized  the  romantic  charm  of  the  antipodes. 
The  whole  environment,  moreover,  enhanced  my 
feeling.  The  exquisite  simplicity  of  our  room, 
and  of  the  other  rooms  across  the  garden;  the  soft 
lights  shining  through  the  rice  paper  of  shoji  here 
and  there;  the  silhouettes,  so  Japanese,  which  passed 
across  them;  the  shimmering  of  the  dark  green 
leaves  of  small  trees  whose  upper  branches  reached  a 
little  bit  above  the  floor  level;  the  tinkling  note  of  a 
samisen  played  in  some  remote  part  of  the  building; 
the  almond  eyes  and  massed  ebony  hair  of  our  gentle 
little  servitors,  their  butterfly  costumes,  the  strange, 
soft  rattle  of  their  language,  the  curious  unfamiliar 
flavours  of  the  viands;  all  these  combined  to  make  me 
feel  as  one  transported  into  an  enchantment,  vivid 
and  fantastic  as  a  painting  by  Rackham  or  Dulac. 

And  yet,  fascinated  as  I  was  with  all  this  magic 
loveliness,  I  felt  a  gentle  melancholy.  For  the  shoji 
at  the  rear  of  the  room  were  pushed  back  like  the 
others,  and  from  the  beach  on  which  they  opened 
there  came  to  me  through  the  darkness  an  insistent 
note  of  definite  and  almost  terrible  reality:  the  mur- 
mur of  that  ocean,  black,  restless,  turbulent,  ominous, 
unimaginably  vast,  by  which  I  was  cut  off  from  home. 

My  own  room  was  next  to  that  of  the  linguist, 
but  the  room  beyond  mine  was  occupied  by  a 
Japanese  couple.  The  rooms  were  divided  by 
walls  consisting  of  opaque  paper  screens,  sliding 
in  grooves,  and  even  these  frail  partitions  were  in- 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  299 

complete,  for,  as  in  all  Japanese  houses,  there  were 
ramma,  or  grills,  over  the  tops  of  the  screens.  The 
purpose  of  these  ramma  is  to  give  ventilation  at 
night,  when  the  building  is  solidly  encased  in  wooden 
shutters;  but  though  it  is  true  that  they  do  permit 
some  air  to  circulate,  it  is  equally  true  that  they 
permit  the  circulation  of  sound  and  light.  Herein 
lies  the  foreigner's  chief  objection  to  the  Japanese 
style  of  house — it  is  utterly  without  privacy. 

I  endeavoured  to  be  quiet  as  I  made  ready  for 
bed,  and  I  am  sure  my  Japanese  neighbours  likewise 
tried,  but  their  whisperings  and  the  little  rustling 
sounds  they  made  as  they  moved  about,  enhanced 
rather  than  diminished  my  consciousness  of  their 
proximity. 

After  I  had  put  out  my  light  my  room  continued 
for  some  time  to  be  illuminated  by  the  glow  which 
came  through  the  ramma  on  both  sides.  Presently 
the  linguist's  light  went  out,  but  that  from  the  room 
of  my  other  neighbours  persisted,  keeping  me  awake. 
This  was  the  first  time  that  I  acutely  missed  chairs 
as  an  adjunct  to  Japanese  life;  if  I  had  a  chair  I 
could  hang  a  kimono  over  it  to  make  a  screen  for  my 
eyes.  At  last,  however,  I  heard  a  little  click,  which 
was  immediately  followed  by  darkness.  Then  a  sound 
of  soff  steps.  Then  a  comfortable  sigh.  Then  silence. 

It  was  my  first  night  in  a  Japanese  bed.  The 
bed  consisted  of  two  thin  floss-silk  mattresses,  laid 
one  above  the  other  on  the  matting,  and  partly 
covered  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  towel.  It  was  all 
very  clean.  The  pillow  was  a  cylinder  of  cotton 


300          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

about  six  inches  in  diameter,  stuffed  with  some  sub- 
stance as  heavy  and  as  crackling  as  pine  needles, 
but  odourless.  I  think  the  stuffing  was  of  rice- 
husks.  My  nightgown  was  a  cotton  kimono  like 
the  one  in  which  I  had  gone  walking,  and  my  coverlet 
was  the  usual  bed-covering  of  Japan — a  quilted 
satin  robe,  very  long,  with  armholes  and  spacious 
sleeves:  a  cross  between  a  comforter  and  a  kimono. 
I  did  not  use  the  sleeves,  but  pulled  it  over  as  one 
would  if  sleeping  under  an  overcoat. 

In  all  but  one  respect  it  was  a  comfortable  bed. 
The  thing  that  troubled  me  was  the  hard  round 
pillow.  I  moved  it  about;  I  tried  to  flatten  it; 
I  tried  my  hand  under  it,  and  over  it,  between  it 
and  my  face. 

"I  shall  never  be  able  to  sleep  on  such  a  pillow!" 
I  thought,  irritably.  And  the  next  thing  I  knew  it 
was  morning  and  time  to  get  up. 

This  inn,  being  exceptionally  well  appointed, 
provided  separate  wash-rooms  for  men  and  women. 
We  trooped  down  and  bathed.  Then  we  breakfasted. 
The  breakfast  was  much  like  the  dinner  of  the  night 
before — rice,  soup,  fish,  and  tea. 

"If  any  one  feels  the  need  of  coffee,"  said  the 
linguist,  "we  may  be  able  to  get  it,  but  the  chances 
are  it  won't  be  very  good.  I've  got  a  can  of  con- 
densed milk  here,  too."  He  held  up  the  can.  I 
noticed  that  it  was  called  "Bear  Brand"  Milk, 
and  that  the  label  bore  the  picture  of  a  bear. 

"Don't  they  have  fresh  milk  at  these  innsP" 
someone  asked. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  301 

"A  few  of  them  have  it  now,"  he  replied,  "but 
it  is  only  in  the  last  few  years  that  the  people  of  this 
locality  have  learned  to  use  milk  at  all." 

This  reminded  him  of  a  story  which  he  told  us. 

On  one  of  his  walking  trips  he  had  stopped  at  an 
inn  which  boasted  of  having  been  patronized  by  an 
Imperial  Prince.  The  friend  who  accompanied 
the  linguist  on  that  trip  wanted  coffee  for  breakfast, 
and  the  innkeeper  managed  to  supply  it.  The 
linguist  had  a  can  of  "Bear  Brand  "  Milk  in  his  haver- 
sack, but  he  did  not  wish  to  open  it  if  milk  could 
be  produced  at  the  inn. 

"Can  you  get  me  some  milk?"  he  asked  the  nesan. 

"What  kind  of  milk?"  she  inquired. 

Perceiving  that  she  knew  nothing  of  our  custom 
of  using  milk  in  tea  and  coffee,  he  amused  himself 
by  replying: 

"Whale's  milk." 

The  nesan  went  downstairs  and  presently  returned 
to  say  that  there  was  no  whale's  milk  to  be  had. 

"This  inn  has  been  patronized  by  an  Imperial 
Prince,"  exclaimed  the  linguist,  affecting  astonish- 
ment, "yet  you  have  no  whale's  milk?" 

The  nesan  admitted  that  such  was  the  case. 

"Then,"  said  he,  "bring  me  elephant's  milk. 
I'll  try  to  make  it  do." 

Again  she  departed. 

"The  proprietor  is  very  sorry,"  she  reported 
when  she  came  back,  "but  he  has  just  run  out  of 
elephant's  milk." 

"Let  me  see  the  proprietor." 


302  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

When  the  latter  appeared  he  was  most  apologetic. 
There  had  been  an  unprecedented  demand  for  ele- 
phant's milk  in  the  last  few  days,  he  explained,  and 
his  supply  had  been  exhausted.  He  expected  to 
have  some  more  shortly,  but  the  express  was  slow. 

"Very  well,"  said  the  linguist,  "I  suppose  I'll 
have  to  get  along  as  best  I  can  on  bear's  milk." 
Whereupon  he  opened  the  "Bear  Brand"  can  and 
poured  some  of  its  contents  into  his  coffee,  while 
the  hotel  proprietor  and  the  nesan  looked  on  with 
bulging  eyes. 

"You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself,"  I  told 
him  when  he  had  finished  the  story. 

"The  joke  rebounded  on  me,"  he  said.  "After 
that  I  became  a  personage  in  the  inn,  and  I  had  to 
tip  correspondingly  when  I  left — for  according  to 
the  old  custom  of  the  country  the  size  of  the  tip 
in  a  hotel  is  not  in  proportion  to  the  service  received, 
but  in  proportion  to  the  rank  of  the  tipper.  And 
besides,  the  proprietor  was  very  curious  to  know  how 
they  milked  the  bears.  I  had  a  devil  of  a  time 
explaining  that." 

After  breakfast  we  set  out  on  foot  for  the  village 
of  Nabuto,  several  miles  farther  along  the  shore. 
The  road,  winding  around  the  rampart  hills,  was  as 
beautiful  as  that  we  had  travelled  the  day  before, 
and  as  full  of  interesting  figures  and  intimate  glimp- 
ses of  the  life  of  these  amiable  industrious  fisher- 
folk. 

Nabuto  proved  to  be  a  tiny  settlement  at  the 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  303 

tip  of  a  rocky  promontory,  sheltered  from  direct 
assaults  of  the  sea  by  a  small,  pinnacled  island  known 
as  Niemon  Island  because  it  belongs,  and  has  for 
eight  centuries  belonged,  to  a  family  of  that  name, 
residing  there. 

An  old  sea-wife,  looking  like  a  figure  from  one  of 
Winslow  Homer's  paintings,  summoned  the  ferryman 
with  a  blast  upon  a  conch  shell,  and  a  few  minutes 
later  we  stepped  from  his  skiff  to  a  natural  platform 
of  granite  at  the  island's  edge.  As  we  landed  we 
were  assimilated  by  a  guide  who  began  by  indicating 
certain  circular  holes  in  the  granite  which,  he  de- 
clared, had  been  made  by  the  hoofs  of  Yoritomo's 
horse.  For  legend  has  it  that,  when  pursued,  this 
mediaeval  military  ^hero  used  Niemon  Island  as  a 
hiding  place.  Nor  are  the  horse's  hoof-prints  the 
only  evidence  supporting  this  tale.  One  may  see 
the  cave  in  which  the  great  Yoritomo  concealed 
himself. 

Thither,  by  a  rough,  ascending  path,  the  guide 
led  us.  It  was  a  small,  damp  cave.  If  Yoritomo 
lived  there  long  he  must  have  feared  his  enemies 
more  than  he  feared  rheumatism.  Within  was  a 
small  shrine  dedicated  to  the  ancient  warrior,  and 
hanging  near  it  was  a  cord  by  which  a  bell  could  be 
rung  to  notify  the  spirit  of  the  departed  that  callers 
had  arrived.  The  guide  signified  to  us  that  Yorito- 
mo's spirit  would  be  profoundly  gratified  if  we  put 
a  few  coppers  into  the  box  in  front  of  his  shrine. 
Having  contributed  we  were  allowed  to  ring  the  bell. 

The  ledge  outside  commanded  a  view  of  leagues 


304  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  leagues  of  amethyst  sea  into  which  jutted  a 
succession  of  green  bastioned  promontories.  Below 
us,  at  the  base  of  the  cliff,  where  the  long  swells 
were  crashing  in  rhythmic  succession,  several  small 
skiffs  were  tossing  dangerously  near  the  margin  of 
the  foam.  These,  said  the  guide,  were  the  boats 
of  abalone  fishers — for  the  Niemon  family,  besides 
receiving  tourists,  and  selling  them  trinkets,  picture 
postcards,  and  flasks  of  Osaka  whiskey,  is  in  the 
business  of  canning  abalone  meat.  I  have  attempted 
to  eat  abalone.  Considering  that  it  is  a  mollusc 
leading  an  absolutely  sedentary  life,  it  has  astounding 
muscular  development.  A  man  who  can  masticate 
it  ought  to  be  able  also  to  masticate  the  can  in  which 
it  comes. 

Each  skiff  contained  two  men;  an  oarsman  and  a 
diver.  The  former  would  nurse  his  light  craft 
close  to  where  the  seas  were  breaking  on  the  island's 
rocky  wall,  while  the  latter,  standing  and  swaying 
with  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  boat,  peered  eagerly 
into  the  blue  depths.  Then,  suddenly,  with  the 
swiftness  of  a  thrown  knife,  the  brown  body  would 
cut  the  water  and  disappear.  One  waited.  One 
waited  long  enough  to  become  a  little  anxious. 
But  when  it  seemed  that  human  lungs  could  not  have 
held  a  breath  for  such  a  length  of  time,  a  head  of  wet 
black  hair  would  pop  out  of  the  water  and  the  glis- 
tening body  of  the  diver  would  slip  over  the  gunwale 
with  the  sinuous  ease  of  a  swimming  seal.  A  mo- 
ment later  he  would  be  standing  again  in  the  bow 
of  the  boat,  a  figure  beautifully  poised,  gazing  with 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  305 

the  rapt  eyes  of  a  seer  into  the  swaying,  streaky 
mysteries  of  the  under-water  world. 

Out  here  the  fresh  sea  breeze  wove  like  a  cool 
woof  across  the  warp  of  rays  from  a  hot  noonday  sun. 
Ashore  there  was  no  breeze.  I  was  beginning  to 
dread  the  baking  dusty  miles  of  highway  leading 
back  to  Kamogawa.  Then  someone  suggested  that 
we  sail  there,  and  the  linguist  sent  the  guide  to 
see  about  a  boat. 

The  vessel  he  secured  was  a  two-masted  fishing 
boat  with  a  brave  viking  prow  and  long  sleek  lines. 
It  was  a  piratical-looking  craft  and  the  appearance  of 
the  crew  was  even  more  so.  They  were  like  the 
Malay  pirates  in  boys'  books  of  adventure:  almost 
naked,  and  tanned  and  weathered  to  a  dark  copper 
colour.  Two  of  them  wore  short  white  shirts,  open 
in  front  and  terminating  at  the  waist,  but  the  others 
were  innocent  of  such  sophisticated  haberdashery, 
the  entire  costume  of  each  consisting  of  a  pair  of 
towels — one  at  the  loins,  the  other  wound  around 
the  head. 

All  too  soon  they  landed  us  upon  the  beach  at  the 
back  of  the  hotel. 

"Now,"  said  the  linguist,  as  we  waded  up  through 
the  deep  sand,  "we'll  pack  our  bags,  get  lunch,  and 
be  off." 

And  precisely  that  we  did. 

The  whole  staff  of  the  inn  assembled  to  see  us 
depart.  The  proprietress  gave  us  little  presents. 
There  was  much  bowing.  Then  the  basha  creaked 
away. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

/  Take  Gen's  Photograph— The  Pay  of  Fisher-Folk— Where 
All  the  World  Works— We  Help  Gen  Pull  Her  Cart— And 
Surprise  Some  Wayfarers — The  Road  Grows  Long — Fairy 
Debutantes 

TN  AN  exceptionally  picturesque  fishing  village  a 
few  miles  on,  I  paused  to  take  some  photo- 
•*•  graphs.  On  a  platform  outside  an  old  house 
overhanging  the  gray  sea-wall  at  the  margin  of  the 
beach,  three  women  were  unloading  baskets  of 
fish  from  a  heavy  handcart.  One  of  them  was  fully 
sixty  years  of  age,  another  I  judged  to  be  thirty,  but 
the  third  was  a  girl  not  over  twenty,  a  sturdy  brown 
lass  with  eyes  like  those  of  a  wild  deer,  and  a  ready 
smile  which  showed  a  set  of  glorious  white  teeth. 
She  was  as  pretty  a  peasant  girl  as  I  had  seen  in 
Japan,  wherefore  through  my  bi-lingual  friend,  I 
asked  permission  to  take  her  picture. 

From  the  amount  of  talking  my  friend  did,  and 
the  laughter  with  which,  on  both  sides,  it  was  ac- 
companied, I  judged  that  the  request,  as  it  reached 
her,  was  festooned  with  gallantries.  At  all  event 
she  readily  consented  to  be  photographed — as  a 
pretty  girl  generally  will — and  when  the  shutter  had 
snapped  she  asked  that  I  send  her  a  print.  This  I 
agreed  to  do  if  she  would  write  her  name  and  address 

306 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  307 

in  my  notebook.  She  did  so  in  kana,  which,  being 
translated  by  my  invaluable  companion,  revealed  her 
name  as  Gen  Tajima. 

Asked  if  all  three  of  them  were  of  the  same  family, 
the  women  replied  that  they  were  merely  neighbours. 
They  resided  in  the  village  of  Amatsu-machi,  several 
miles  farther  along  the  road  that  we  were  travelling, 
and  it  was  their  daily  business  to  draw  the  cart  from 
Amatsu-machi  to  this  place,  laden  with  baskets  of 
fish  to  be  salted  and  shipped.  Their  pay  for  this 
labour  amounted  to  the  equivalent  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  day  in  our  money. 

"I  suppose  you  are  all  of  you  married?"  asked  my 
friend. 

The  old  woman  replied  that  she  was;  the  other 
two  laughed  and  declared  that  they  were  not. 
But  they  soon  betrayed  each  other.  "Don't  you 
believe  what  she  says!"  they  warned  us  gaily. 
"She  is  married.  Tm  the  one  who  is  looking  for  a 
match."  Then,  having  had  their  little  joke,  each 
owned  to  a  husband  and  children.  Their  husbands 
were  fishermen,  and  earned,  they  said,  two  yen 
a  day — about  a  dollar. 

"You  work  hardP"  asked  my  friend. 

"Of  course." 

"Why  *  of  course'?" 

"Everybody  down  here  works  hard." 

"Even  those  who  don't  have  to?" 

"Yes.  Even  people  with  a  lot  of  money  work 
hard.  Here  any  one  who  did  not  work  would  be 
laughed  at." 


308          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

They  were  typical  Japanese  women  of  the  fisher 
class,  happy,  innocent,  industrious.  They  interested 
me  profoundly.  But  there  was  a  long  trip  ahead  of 
us  and  it  was  necessary  to  push  on.  We  bade  them 
farewell,  got  into  the  basha,  and  drove  away. 

But  we  had  not  seen  the  last  of  them.  When 
we  had  driven  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  so,  they  came 
running  up  behind  us  with  their  cart.  Pretty 
Gen  was  between  the  shafts,  the  other  girl  was  pulling 
at  a  rope  tied  to  one  side,  and  the  grandmother  was 
at  the  rear,  pushing.  They  ran  pigeon-toed,  like 
Indians,  and  what  with  the  commotion  caused  by 
their  rope  sandals  and  the  wheels,  left  a  cloud  of 
dust  behind  them. 

Full  of  merriment  they  closed  in  upon  us.  One 
of  them  called  to  us  in  Japanese. 

"What  did  she  say?"  I  asked. 

My  friend  translated: 

"She  says  that  because  we  are  strangers  they  will 
escort  us." 

"Come  on,"  I  said,  jumping  out  of  the  basha. 
"Let's  help  them  pull  the  cart." 

He  joined  me  at  once.  We  took  up  our  places, 
naturally,  at  either  side  of  Gen. 

She  was  full  of  questions.  Where  were  we  fromP 
How  long  did  it  take  to  come  all  the  way  from  Amer- 
ica? What  was  America  like?  Didn't  the  American 
people  like  the  Japanese  people?  Her  brother  was  a 
sailor.  He  had  made  a  voyage  to  America  and  said 
it  was  a  very  fine  place,  and  that  everyone  was  rich. 
It  wasn't  like  that  in  Japan.  Here  almost  everyone 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  309 

was  poor.  It  was  hard  to  earn  enough  to  live  on, 
now  that  food  cost  so  much. 

Finding  that  there  were  now  too  many  willing 
hands  at  the  cart,  we  discharged  the  grandmother 
and  the  other  woman,  placing  them  in  our  seats 
in  the  hasha. 

"  It  is  a  pity  you  can't  ride,  too,"  my  friend  said  to 
Gen,  "but  it  is  better  for  you  to  stay  here  and  see 
that  we  don't  steal  the  cart." 

To  which  the  old  woman  leaning  out  of  the  back 
seat  of  the  basha  remarked  that  she  thought  us 
much  more  likely  to  steal  the  cart  if  Gen  went  with 
it. 

This  caused  much  hilarity.  Gen,  I  think,  was  a 
little  embarrassed,  but  she  enjoyed  it  all  the  same. 

"As  things  are,"  she  said,  smiling  and  looking 
at  the  road,  "I  am  well  satisfied  to  walk." 

The  chatter  was  so  lively  that  I  had  a  good  deal 
of  difficulty  in  finding  out  all  that  was  being  said; 
it  was  no  small  task  for  my  companion  to  keep  up 
his  end  of  the  conversation  against  all  three  of  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  translate  for  me.  I  began 
to  find  myself  left  out. 

Moreover,  I  had  not  anticipated  that  we  should 
attract  so  much  attention.  The  mere  fact  that  we 
were  aliens  made  us  conspicuous  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  sight  of  two  foreign  men  helping 
a  peasant  girl  pull  a  cart,  while  the  girl's  usual  com- 
panions rode  ahead  in  the  comparative  magnificence 
of  a  basha,  caused  people  in  the  villages  through 
which  we  passed  not  only  to  stare  in  amazement, 


310          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

but  to  call  their  friends  to  come  and  witness  the 
unheard-of  spectacle. 

I  remember  an  old  woman  bent  under  a  great 
load  of  straw  which  she  was  carrying  on  her  back, 
who,  when  she  glanced  up  and  saw  us,  looked  as 
if  she  were  going  to  fall  over,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  the  quizzical,  puzzled,  fixed  gaze  of  a  middle- 
aged  coolie,  with  a  load  of  wood  on  his  back  and  a  lit- 
tle pipe  in  his  mouth,  who,  on  sight  of  us,  hurriedly 
seated  himself  on  the  bank  at  the  roadside  to  pass 
us  in  review.  He  was  a  fine  type.  I  dropped  my 
hold  upon  the  shaft,  unslung  my  kodak,  and  em- 
balmed his  features  on  a  film. 

"Come  on  back  here!"  called  my  companion. 
"Gen  and  I  need  you  with  our  cart." 

Gen  and  I!  ...  Our  Tcart,  indeed!  Who 
first  thought  of  helping  Gen  with  her  cart,  I  should 
like  to  know! 

Without  enthusiasm  I  returned  and  took  hold 
of  the  shaft  again.  The  cart  was  getting  heavier. 
He  and  Gen  weren't  pulling  as  they  should.  They 
were  too  busy  talking — that  was  the  trouble  with 
them! 

"Say,  how  far  is  it  to  this  town  where  these  people 
live?",;  I  demanded  of  him. y 

"I  guess  it's  not  very  much  farther,"  my  friend 
interrupted  his  conversation  with  Gen  to  reply. 

"I  should  hope  not!  We've  pulled  this  infernal 
cart  about  five  miles  already." 

"If  you  don't  like  it,"  he  answered,  "why  don't 
you  get  back  in  the  basha?" 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  311 

"How  am  I  going  to  do  that,  when  that  old 
Woman  is  in  my  place  P" 

"Tell  her  you  want  to  ride.  Tell  her  to  come 
back  here  and  get  on  the  job  again." 

I  looked  up  at  her.  It  was  quite  out  of  the  ques- 
tion to  do  such  a  thing.  Much  as  I  should  have  en- 
joyed my  seat  in  the  basha,  she  was  enjoying  it 
more.  She  and  the  younger  woman  were  having 
a  magnificent  time,  chattering,  giggling,  hailing 
every  acquaintance  they  passed.  And  when  other 
peasants  who  knew  them  gazed,  astonished,  they 
would  burst  into  roars  of  mirth.  All  of  which 
gave  our  progress  more  than  ever  the  aspect  of  a 
circus  parade  in  which,  it  began  to  seem  to  me,  I 
figured  as  the  clown. 

Left  to  my  own  thoughts  I  endeavoured  to  meet 
the  situation  philosophically.  If  I  had  been  foolish 
to  get  myself  into  this  cart-pulling  adventure  my 
folly  was  of  a  kind  common  to  my  sex.  Other  men 
without  number  had  made  even  greater  fools  of 
themselves.  And,  whereas  in  a  little  while  this  in- 
cident would  be  ended,  some  men  got  into  scrapes 
that  lasted  all  their  lives.  It  was  pleasant  to  reflect 
on  that. 

I  began  to  see  an  allegory  in  the  episode.  In 
miniature  it  was  like  the  story  of  a  hasty  marriage. 
.  .  .  A  man  travelling  the  road  of  life  in  the 
comfortable  basha  of  bachelorhood  sees  a  pretty  girl. 
Bright  eyes,  white  teeth  shown  in  a  smile,  and  out 
he  jumps. 

"Let  me  help  you  pull  the  cart!"  he  cries,  without 


312          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

giving  a  thought  to  the  future.  So  he  takes  hold, 
and  as  likely  as  not  she  eases  off  and  lets  him  do  most 
of  the  pulling. 

He  wants  companionship,  but  when  he  begins 
to  look  for  it,  what  does  he  discover?  He  discovers 
that  she  doesn't  know  a  word  of  his  language,  nor 
he  a  word  of  hers.  He  has  sold  his  birthright  for  a 
mess  of  pulchritude. 

The  road  is  long,  the  hills  steep,  the  cart  heavy. 
Presently  appears  another  man  and  offers  to  help — 
some  smart-aleck  who  can  talk  her  kind  of  talk. 
And,  of  course,  this  linguistic  ass  begins  prattling 
a  lot  of  nonsense  to  her  and  turns  her  head.  The 
more  she  listens  to  him  the  more  inflated  he  becomes. 
That's  what  happens  to  some  men  if  a  pretty  girl 
shows  them  a  little  attention!  Does  he  stop  for  a 
minute  to  consider  that  his  advantage  is  purely 
one  of  language?  Not  at  all!  The  idiot  thinks 
himself  fascinating. 

So  much  for  that. 

But  now  imagine  another  picture.  Take  those 
two  men  out  of  a  situation  in  which  one  has  mani- 
festly an  unfair  advantage,  and  place  them  on  an 
equal  footing  in  a  totally  different  environment. 
Take  them,  let  us  say,  to  an  American  city,  place 
them  in  a  ballroom,  bring  in  a  lot  of  beautiful 
debutantes — hundreds  of  them,  all  in  pretty  little 
evening  gowns  and  satin  slippers — start  up  the 
band.  Then  see  what  happens! 

One  of  these  men  is  a  bookworm.  He  knows  a 
lot  about  languages.  He  can  speak  Japanese.  (You 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  313 

see  I  am  being  perfectly  fair  to  him.)  But  the  other, 
though  he  cannot  speak  Japanese,  is — you  under- 
stand this  is  purely  an  imaginary  case — a  hand- 
some, dashing,  debonair  fellow.  While  one  has  been 
learning  Japanese  the  other  has  learned  a  few  effec- 
tive steps.  In  the  intricate  mazes  of  the  dance  he 
seems  to  float  godlike  through  the  air. 

All  right!  Now  I  ask  you,  which  one  of  these  two 
men  is  going  to  be  a  success  with  all  those  debutantes? 
Is  Japanese  going  to  advance  a  man  very  far  with 
an  American  debutante?  In  all  fairness  I  say  No! 
A  debutante  is  too  clever — too  clever  with  her 
feet — to  be  misled  by  mere  linguistic  talent.  True 
worth  is  the  thing  that  counts  with  her.  She  looks 
for  solid  merit  in  a  man.  In  other  words:  What 
kind  of  a  dancer  is  he? 

Is  not  the  conclusion  obvious?  In  the  environ- 
ment I  have  pictured  one  of  those  two  men  will  be 
left  practically  alone,  while  the  other  will  find  him- 
self constantly  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  dainty,  beau- 
tiful— 

"  This  is  Amatsu-machi,"  I  heardmy  companion  say. 

With  a  start  I  came  back  to  Japan. 

"They're  leaving  us  at  the  crossroads,"  said  he. 

The  basha  drew  up.  The  two  women  got  out. 
They  thanked  us  prettily.  Then  amid  many  "Sa- 
yonaras"  we  drove  off,  while  they  stood  and  watched 
us,  smiling  and  waving  until  we  passed  from  their 
sight  around  a  bend  in  the  road. 

"They  have  lovely  natures,  these  Japanese  wo- 
men," the  linguist  presently  remarked. 


314  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"If  you'll  look  over  a  lot  of  American  debutantes," 

I  replied,   "you'll  find  that  they  are  just  about 

»» 

"You  don't  understand,"  he  interrupted.  "I'm 
not  talking  about  mere  prettiness — though  you'd 
hardly  say  that  girl  Gen  wasn't  pretty.  I'm  talking 
about  spiritual  quality.  Couldn't  you  tell,  just  by 
looking  at  her,  that  she  was  sweet  right  straight 
through?" 

"I  guess  she's  all  right,"  I  answered  in  an  off-hand 
tone. 

That  did  not  half  satisfy  him.  But  though  he 
kept  at  me  for  a  long  time,  trying  to  make  me  say 
something  more  enthusiastic,  I  would  not  be  coerced. 
He  was  too  much  puffed  up  as  it  was. 

I  had  another  reason,  too,  for  withholding  from 
that^  pretty  peasant  girl  the  fullest  praise.  I  must 
be  faithful  to  the  debutantes  who,  from  far  away, 
had  come  floating  like  a  swarm  of  fairies  to  console 
me  as  I  tugged  Gen  Tajima's  lumbering  cart  along 
a  dusty  road  upon  the  seacoast  of  Japan,  j 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

The  Handkerchief  as  a  Travelling  Bag — Bags  and  Bottles — 
Computing  Time — The  Mystic  Animals  of  the  Zodiac — 
Superstitions  Regarding  Them — Temple  Fortune-Telling — 
An  Ekisha—The  Ema—Yuki  Tells  of  a  Wonderful  Cure 

THE  national  travelling  bag  of  the  Japanese 
is   a  large,   strong  handkerchief  of  silk  or 
cotton,  in  which  the  articles  carried  on  a 
journey  are  tied  up.    The  elasticity  of  this  container, 
which  is  called  a  furoshiki,  is  its  great  advantage. 
It  is  as  large  or  as  small  as  its  contents  require,  and 
when  it  is  empty  you  do  not  have  to  lug  it  about  by 
hand,  like  an  empty  suitcase,  but  merely  put  it  in 
your  pocket. 

The  trouble  with  our  style  of  suitcases  and  bags  is 
that  they  are  heavy,  bulky,  and  not  adaptable. 
On  one  occasion  they  are  overcrowded,  on  another 
we  carry  them  half  empty.  My  own  bags  remind 
me  of  the  way  I  used  to  feel  about  wine  bottles  in 
the  cheery  days  when  one  could  afford  to  regard 
such  things  with  a  somewhat  critical  eye.  I  always 
felt  that  wine  bottles  were  either  too  large  or  too 
small.  Pints  held  a  little  too  much  for  one,  yet  not 
enough  for  two;  and  quarts  held  rather  more  than 
was  required  by  three,  yet  left  four  dissatisfied. 
Let  us,  however,  drop  this  subject.  De  mortuis.  .  .  . 

315 


316         .MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

I  was  often  struck  with  the  fact  that  though  the 
Japanese  woman  seems  to  be  more  heavily  dressed 
than  the  foreign  woman,  and  though  her  coiffure 
is  generally  more  elaborate,  she  carries  so  much 
less  baggage  when  she  travels.  In  our  Yuki's 
furoshiki  there  was  always  room  for  my  cigars, 
cigarettes,  books,  and  kodak  films.  Her  own  things 
seemed  to  take  no  space  at  all. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this.  A  Japanese 
woman  carries  no  hair-brush  and  wears  her  comb 
in  her  hair.  Nor  do  the  Japanese  generally  take 
nightclothes  with  them  on  a  journey,  for  a  clean 
cotton  kimono,  in  which  to  sleep,  is  supplied  by  all 
Japanese  hotels.  More  than  once,  when  I  saw  Yuki 
starting  off  with  us  for  a  two-  or  three-days'  trip 
with  baggage  consisting  of  a  furoshiki  tied  to  about 
the  size  of  two  ordinary  novels,  I  thought  of 
Johnnie  Poe's  famous  "fifty-three  pieces  of  bag- 
gage— a  deck  of  cards  and  a  tooth-brush." 

A  favourite  theme  for  the  decoration  of  the  furo- 
shiki embodies  the  signs  of  the  Chinese  zodiac, 
consisting  of  twelve  animals.  The  Chinese  calendar 
was  adopted  centuries  ago  by  the  Japanese,  and 
they  still  take  account  of  it,  though  they  now  gener- 
ally use  our  Gregorian  calendar  for  computing  time. 
But  even  so,  their  era  is  not  the  Christian  Era,  but 
dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Jimmu 
Tenno  the  Divine,  whom  the  Japanese  count  as  the 
first  of  their  Imperial  line,  and  who  is  said  to  have 
ascended  the  throne,  660  B.C.  Thus]  our  current 
year,  1921,  is  the  year  2581  in  Japan.  Time  is  also 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  317 

measured  arbitrarily  by  the  reigns  of  emperors,  the 
present  year  being  Taisho  10,  or  the  tenth  year  of 
the  reign  of  the  present  Emperor. 

The  Chinese  zodiac,  however,  figures  largely 
in  Japanese  superstition.  _  As  there  are  twelve 
animals,  the  years  are  counted  off  in  cycles  of  twelve; 
and  the  same  animals  are  also  associated  with  days 
and  hours,  in  cycles  of  twelve.  The  attributes 
of  the  astrological  animal  governing  the  year  of  one's 
birth  are  supposed  to  attach  to  one. 

"My  mother  is  a  cow,"  a  Japanese  lady  explained 
to  me.  "  My  husband  is  a  snake  and  I  am  a  rabbit." 

The  lore  of  these  animals  is  complicated.  I  have 
only  a  smattering  of  it,  but  what  I  know  will  suffice 
to  show  the  general  tendency  of  such  superstition. 

It  is  considered  good  fortune  to  be  born  in  the 
year  of  the  horse  because  the  horse  is  strong  and 
energetic.  1920  was  the  year  of  the  monkey.  It 
is  unlucky  to  marry  in  monkey  year  because  the 
word  saru,  which  means  " monkey,"  also  means  "to 
go  back,"  the  suggestion  being  that  the  bride  will 
go  back  to  her  former  home,  or  in  other  words  be  di- 
vorced. A  woman  born  in  the  year  of  the  rabbit 
will  be  prolific.  (The  lady  who  said,  "  I'm  a  rabbit," 
though  very  young,  was  the  mother  of  four.) 

Similarly  the  animals,  in  their  cycle,  bring  good 
luck  or  ill  luck  in  connection  with  events  occurring 
on  certain  days.  It  is  unlucky  to  take  to  one's 
bed  with  a  sickness  on  the  day  of  the  cow,  because 
the  cow  is  slow  to  get  up.  It  is  lucky  to  begin  a 
journey  on  the  day  of  the  tiger,  because  the  tiger, 


318          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

though  he  travels  a  thousand  miles,  always  returns 
to  the  point  from  which  he  started;  but  for  the 
same  reason  it  is  unlucky  for  a  girl  to  marry  on  this 
day,  because  she,  like  the  tiger,  may  return  to  the 
place  from  which  she  started:  her  father's  house. 
And  the  day  of  the  tiger  is  a  bad  one  for  funerals, 
because  the  tiger  drags  its  prey  with  it,  suggesting 
that  another  funeral  will  soon  follow.  The  signi- 
ficance attaching  to  each  animal  according  to  the 
Japanese  idea  is  not  always  apparent,  without  ex- 
planation, to  the  stranger.  For  instance,  though 
I  know  it  is  considered  lucky  for  a  bride  to  cut  her 
kimonos  on  the  day  of  the  rooster,  I  do  not  know 
why.  Nor  do  I  know  why  it  is  considered  particu- 
larly lucky  to  have,  in  one  family,  three  persons 
born  under  the  same  sign. 

Superstitition  of  all  kinds  plays  a  large  part 
in  the  daily  life  of  the  Japanese  masses,  and  per- 
sons of  intelligence  often  patronize  fortune  tellers, 
among  whom  are  the  Buddhist  priests  in  certain 
temples. 

At  Asakusa,  the  great  popular  temple  of  Tokyo, 
the  fortune-telling  business  is  so  brisk  that  two  or 
three  priests  are  busy  at  it  all  the  time.  The  system 
is  simple.  The  diviner  shakes  a  lot  of  numbered 
sticks  in  a  box,  draws  one  out,  and  takes  a  paper 
from  a  little  drawer  which  bears  a  number  corres- 
ponding with  that  on  the  stick.  Your  fortune  is 
written  on  the  paper,  in  multigraph.  I  paid  two 
cents  for  mine,  and  when  it  was  translated  to  me  I 
felt  that  I  had  paid  too  much. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  319 

Yuki,  when  she  saw  that  I  was  disposed  to  take 
the  matter  lightly,  seemed  a  little  disappointed, 
and  when  later  several  of  us  decided  to  give  the 
necromancers  one  more  fling,  she  herself  escorted 
us  to  the  establishment  called  Hokokudo,  at  number 
3  Chome,  the  Ginza,  where  father,  son,  and  grandson 
successively  have  told  fortunes  for  the  past  hundred 
and  twenty  years.  Here  we  paid  one  yen  each 
for  our  fortunes,  but  though  the  ekisha  took  more 
time  to  the  job,  examining  our  hands  and  faces, 
rattling  his  divining  rods  and  making  patterns  with 
his  Chinese  wooden  blocks,  he  didn't  do  much  better 
than  the  priest  had  done  for  two  cents.  Yuki 
was  impressed  when  he  predicted  a  sea  voyage  for 
me,  but  the  prophecy  did  not  seem  to  me  to  con- 
stitute a  remarkable  example  of  divination. 

The  visit  to  the  ekisha  was  however,  an  experience. 
The  little  house  was  picturesque,  and  it  was  interest- 
ing to  see  the  stream  of  Japanese  coming  in,  one 
after  another,  intent  on  learning  what  the  future 
held  in  store  for  them.  Also,  while  Yuki's  fortune 
was  being  told  I  got  a  good  photograph  of  the 
ekisha  examining  her  hand  through  his  magnifying 
glass. 

Another  superstition  is  exampled  in  the  ema, 
votive  offerings  in  the  form  of  little  paintings  on 
wood,  which  are  put  up  at  Shinto  shrines  by  those 
in  need  of  help  of  one  kind  or  another.  For  almost 
any  sort  of  affliction  an  ema  of  suitable  design  may 
be  found,  though  the  meaning  of  the  grotesque  design 
is  seldom  apparent  to  the  foreigner. 


320  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

While  in  Japan  I  collected  a  number  of  these 
curious  little  objects  and  investigated  their  signi- 
ficance. Among  them  was  one  which  Yuki  recog- 
nized as  an  appeal  for  relief  from  eye  trouble. 

"That  very  good  ema,"  she  told  me.  "I  use 
one  like  that  once  when  I  have  sore  eyes." 

"Did  it  cure  you,  YukiP" 

"Yes — in  two  weeks.  I  put  it  up  at  shrine  and 
I  promise  the  god  I  no  drink  tea  for  two  weeks.  In 
two  weeks  my  eyes  all  right  again." 

"And  you  are  sure  the  ema  did  it?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  sure." 

"You  didn't  do  anything  else  for  your  eyesP" 

"No,  it  just  like  I  say.  I  put  up  ema  for  god 
and  not  drink  tea.  Then  I  wait  two  weeks." 

"Did  your  eyes  hurt  you  during  the  two  weeks?" 

"Oh,  yes.  They  hurt  so  much  I  have  to  wash 
them  two  three  times  a  day  with  boric  acid,  while 
I  wait  for  ema  to  make  cure.  But  when  end  of  two 
weeks  comes  they  not  sore  any  more.  That  ema 
work  very  good." 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

Our  Difficulties  with  the  Language — The  Questionable 
Humour  of  Broken  Speech — "Do  You  Striking  This  Man  for 
That?" — "Companies,  Scholars,  and  Other  Households" — 
Curious  Correspondence — Japanese  Puns — Strange  Laughter 
— The  Grotesque  in  Art — Japanese  Colour-Prints — Famous 
Print  Collections — Monet's  Discovery  of  Prints  at  Zaandam 
— Japanese  Prints  and  French  Impressionism 

THE  complete  dissimilarity  between  the  Japan- 
ese language  and  our  own,  referred  to  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  of  course  adds  greatly  to  the 
difficulty  of  communication  in  all  its  various  forms. 
In  Tokyo  and  other  cities  I  attended  many  lunch- 
eons and  dinners  organized  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing relations  between  the  United   States  and 
Japan,  and  promoting  a  friendly  understanding  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  but  though  Japanese  states- 
men and  men  of  affairs  spoke  at  these  gatherings 
in  fluent  and  even  polished  English,  I  never  met 
with  one  American  who  was  equipped  to  return 
the   compliment   in   kind.     The   Americans,    even 
those  who  had  lived  for  years  in  Japan,  always  spoke 
in  English,  whereafter  a  Japanese  interpreter  who 
had  taken  notes  on  the  speech  would  arise  and  render 
a  translation. 
The  linguistic  chasm  dividing  the  two  peoples  is 

321 


322          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

not,  however,  entirely  a  black  abyss.  If  one  wall 
is  dark,  the  other  catches  the  sun.  Practically 
all  Japanese  students  now  study  English  in  their 
schools,  our  language  being  considered  next  in  im- 
portance to  their  own.  And  though,  as  I  have  said, 
many  of  them  have  perfectly  mastered  English 
despite  the  enormous  difficulties  it  presents  to  them, 
there  are  many  others  whose  English  is  imperfect, 
and  whose  "Japanned  English,"  as  some  one  has 
called  it,  achieves  effects  the  unconscious  grotesque- 
ness  of  which  startles  and  fascinates  Americans 
and  Englishmen. 

To  be  honest,  I  have  been  in  some  doubt  as  to 
whether  I  should  touch  upon  this  theme  or  not; 
for  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  humour  based 
upon  the  efforts  of  an  individual  to  express  himself 
in  a  language  not  his  own  was  meretricious  humour, 
inasmuch  as  it  makes  fun  of  an  attempt  to  do  a  credit- 
able thing.  It  is  a  kind  of  humour  which  is  en- 
joyed in  some  measure  by  the  French  and  the  British 
but  which  is  relished  infinitely  more  by  us  than  by 
any  other  people  in  the  world,  as  witness  entertain- 
ments in  our  theatres,  and  stories  in  our  magazines, 
depending  for  comedy  upon  dialect:  German,  French, 
Italian,  Irish,  Jewish,  Cockney,  Negro,  or  even  the 
several  purely  American  dialects  characteristic  of  var- 
ious parts  of  the  country. 

This  dubious  taste  of  ours  doubtless  springs,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  from  the  polyglot  nature  of 
our  population;  but  whatever  its  origin  it  is  a  bad 
thing  for  us  in  one  important  respect.  We  find 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  323 

the  English  dialect  of  foreigners  so  funny  that  we 
ourselves  fear  to  attempt  foreign  tongues,  lest  we 
make  ourselves  ridiculous.  Wherefore  we  are  the 
poorest  linguists  in  the  world. 

Even  after  the  foregoing  apology — for  that, 
frankly,  is  what  it  is — I  should  still  hesitate  to 
present  examples  of  "Japanned  English"  had  I 
not  discovered  that  Professor  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain 
perhaps  the  greatest  of  modern  authorities  on  Japan, 
a  man  whose  writings  reveal  an  impeccable  nicety 
of  taste,  had  already  done  so  in  his  most  valuable 
book,  "Things  Japanese." 

One  of  the  examples  given  by  Professor  Chamber- 
lain is  quoted  from  a  work  entitled:  "The  Practical 
Use  of  Conversation  for  Police  Authorities,"  which 
assumes  to  teach  the  Japanese  policeman  how  to 
converse  in  English.  The  following  is  an  imaginary 
conversation  intended  to  guide  the  officer  in  parley 
with  a  British  bluejacket: 

What  countryman  are  you? 

I  am  a  sailor  belonged  to  the  Golden  Eagle,  the  English  man- 
of-war. 

Why  do  you  strike  this  jinricksha-man? 

He  told  me  impolitely. 

What  does  he  told  you  impolitely? 

He  insulted  me  saying  loudly,  "the  Sailor  the  Sailor"  when 
I  am  passing  here. 

Do  you  striking  this  man  for  that? 

Yes. 

But  do  not  strike  him  for  it  is  forbidden. 

I  strike  him  no  more. 

One  curious  aspect  of  the  matter  is  that  so  much 
of  this  weird  English  creeps  into  print,  appearing 


324          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

in  guidebooks,  advertisements,  and  on  the  labels  of 
goods  of  various  kinds  manufactured  in  Japan. 

Thus  in  the  barber  shop  of  the  ship,  going  over, 
I  found  a  bottle  containing  a  toilet  preparation 
called  "Fulay,"  the  label  of  which  bore  the  following 
legend: 

"  Fulay"  is  manufactures  under  chemical  method  and  long 
years  experience  with  pure  and  refined  materials.  It  is,  there- 
fore, only  the  article  in  the  circle  as  ladies  and  gents  daily  toilet. 

And  on  a  jar  of  paste  I  found  this  label,  which 
will  be  better  understood  if  the  tendency  of  the 
Japanese  to  confuse  the  letters  /  and  r  is  kept  in 
mind: 

This  paste  is  of  a  pureness  cleanliness  and  of  a  strong  cohesion, 
so  that  it  does  not  putrefy  even  when  the  paste  grass  is  left  open. 
Though  written  down  on  paper  or  the  like  immediately  after 
pasting,  the  character  is  never  spread.  This  paste  has  an  especial 
fragrance  therefore  all  of  pasted  things  after  using  this  are 
always  kept  from  the  frys  and  all  sorts  of  bacteria,  and  prevents 
the  infectious  diseases.  This  paste  is  an  indispensable  one  for 
the  banks,  companies,  scholars  and  other  households.  Please 
notice  for  "Kuchi's  Yamato-Nori"  as  there  are  similar  things. 

The  circular  of  one  firm,  advertising  "a  large  assort- 
ment of  ladies'  blushes,"  might  have  been  misinter- 
preted as  having  some  scandalous  suggestion,  had  it 
not  gone  on  to  discuss  the  ivory  backs  and  high-grade 
bristles  with  which  the  "blushes"  were  equipped. 

Another  circular  was  that  of  a  butcher  who  catered 
to  foreigners  in  Tokyo.  After  stating  that  his  meats 
were  sold  at  "a  fixed  plice"  this  worthy  merchant 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  325 

mentioned  the  various  kinds  of  beef  he  could  supply. 
There  were,  "rosu  beef,  rampu  beef,  pig  beef,  soop 
beef,  and  beard  beef" — which  being  interpreted  sig- 
nified roast  beef,  rump  beef,  pork,  soup  meat  and 
poultry — the  word  "beard"  being  intended  for  "bird." 
In  the  admirable  hotel  at  Nara  I  saw  the  following 
notice  posted  in  a  corridor: 

REMARQUE 

Parents  are  requested  kindly  to  send  their  children  to  the 
Hotel  Garden  for  when  weather  is  fine.  When  it  is  bad  weather 
I  will  offer  the  children  the  small  dining-room,  except  meal  hours, 
as  playing  room  for  them,  therefore  please  don't  let  them  run 
round  upstairs  and  downstairs  at  all.  Please  kindly  have  the 
children  after  dinner  in  a  manner  quiet  and  repose. 

MANAGER,  Nara  Hotel. 

From  a  friend,  an  official  of  a  large  company,  I 
got  a  number  of  letters  revealing  the  peculiarities 
of  "English  as  she  is  wrote" — at  least  as  she  is  some- 
times wrote — in  Japan.  All  these  letters  are  authen- 
tic, having  come  to  him  in  connection  with  his 
business. 

The  first  one,  written  by  a  clerk  to  the  office 
manager,  refers  to  an  admirable  Japanese  custom 
which  in  itself  is  worthy  of  brief  mention. 

Throughout  Japan  there  is  housecleaning  twice 
a  year  under  police  supervision.  Certain  districts 
have  certain  days  on  which  the  cleaning  must  be 
done.  The  shoji  are  removed,  the  furniture  is 
carried  out,  and  the  mats  are  taken  up  and  beaten. 
The  streets  are  full  of  activity  and  dust  when  this  is 


326  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

going  on,  and  there  is  a  pile  of  rubbish  in  front  of 
every  residence.  Meanwhile  police  officers  pass 
up  and  down,  wearing  gauze  masks  over  their  noses 
<ind  mouths  to  protect  them  from  the  dust,  and  at 
the  end  they  inspect  each  house  to  see  that  the  work 
has  been  properly  done,  after  which  they  affix 
<ui  official  stamp  over  the  door. 
Wherefore  wrote  the  clerk  to  the  office  manager: 

MR.  S : 

Excuse  my  absent  of  this  morning.  All  of  my  neighbourhood 
have  got  instruction  to  clean  out  nest. 

SIDA. 

A  more  serious  dilemma  is  revealed  in  the  follow- 
ing: 

To  General  Manager. 
DEAR  SIR, 

My  wife  gave  birth  this  noon  and  as  it  happened  nearly  a 
month  ahead  than  I  expected,  I  much  rather  find  myself  in 
painful  situation,  having  not  yet  prepared  for  this  sudden 
ocurrence. 

Up  to  this  day,  unfortunate  enough,  I  am  destined  most  un- 
favourably for  the  monetary  circumstance,  and  consequently 
have  no  saving  against  worldly  concerns,  I  am  forced  to  ask 
you  for  a  loan  of  ^?  25.00  to  get  rid  of  the  burden  befallen  on  me 
by  the  birth. 

I  know  it  is  the  meanest  of  all  to  ask  one's  help  for  monetary 
affair  but  as  I  am  being  unable  to  find  any  better  way  than  to 
solicit  you,  I  have  at  last  come  to  a  conclusion  to  trouble  you 
but  against  my  will.  I  deem  it  much  more  shamefull  to  ad- 
vertise my  poor  condition  around  my  relatives  or  acquaintances 
no  matter  wheater  it  will  be  fruitfull  or  fruitless. 

Yours  obediently, 

Y . 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  327 

The  subjoined  was  received  from  one  of  the 
company's  agents  in  another  city: 

DEAR  SIR, 

We  have  the  honour  to  thank  you  for  your  having  bestowed 
us  a  Remington  typewriter  which  has  just  arrived  via  railway 
express.  We  will  treat  her  very  kindly  and  she  will  give  us  her 
best  service  in  return.  Thus  we  can  work  to  our  mutual  satisfac- 
tion and  benefit. 

Thanking  you  for  your  kindness  we  beg  to  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

The  porter  in  a  Japanese  office  not  infrequently 
sleeps  on  the  premises.  But  he  must  have  the  neces- 
sary equipment,  as  the  following  letter  from  an  agent 
to  a  principal  reveals: 

DEAR  SIR, 

In  accordance  to  your  esteemed  conversation  of  other  day  for 
lodging  the  servant  at  this  office,  we  consider  we  must  provide 
to  him  the  bed  or  sleeping  tools.     Please  inform  us  that  you 
could  approve  the  expense  to  purchase  this  tool. 
Awaiting  your  esteemed  reply  we  are,  dear  sir, 

Yours  faithfully, 

T A . 

The  next  letter  is  from  a  man  who  wished  to  estab- 
lish business  relations  with  my  friend's  company: 

DEAR  SIR, 

I  am  a  trader  at  Kokura  city  in  Kyushu,  always  treating  the 
various  machines  or  steels  and  the  architectural  using  goods. 

I  have  known  of  your  great  names  at  Tokyo.  Therefore  I 
want  to  open  the  connection  with  each  other  so  affectionately. 
Accordingly  I  beg  to  see  your  company's  inside  scene  so  clearly, 
please  send  me  the  catalogue  and  plice-list  of  good  samples  of 
your  company. 


328  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

I  am  a  baby  on  our  commercial  society,  because  you  will  lead 
me  to  the  machinery  society  I  think. 
I  trusted, 

Yours  affectionately, 

I  am, 

K M . 

_0ne  thing  which  sometimes  makes  these  letters 
startling  is  the  fact  that  they  are  couched  in  English 
which  is  perfectly  correct  save  in  one  or  two  particu- 
lars. Thus  the  errors  or  strange  usages  pop  out 
at  one  unexpectedly,  adding  an  element  of  surprise, 
as  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  wrote  to  my  friend 
applying  for  work: 

DEAR  SIR, 

I  beg  leave  to  inquire  whether  you  can  make  use  of  my  services 
as  a  salesman  and  correspondent  in  your  firm.    I  have  had  con- 
siderable experiences  as  a  apparatus,  and  can  furnish  references 
and  insurance  against  risk. 
Awaiting  your  reply,  I  am 

Yours  respectfully, 

K S . 

I  have  often  been  asked  whether  the  Japanese 
possess  the  gift  of  humour. 

They  do — though  humour  does  not  occupy  a 
place  so  important  in  their  daily  life  as  it  does  in  ours. 

A  light  touch  in  conversation  is  uncommon  with 
them,  and  those  who  have  it  do  not  generally  exhibit 
it  except  to  their  intimates.  Yet  they  are  great 
punsters,  and  some  of  their  puns  are  very  clever. 
A  case  in  point  is  the  slang  term  narikin  which  they 
have  recently  adopted  to  describe  the  flashy  new- 
rich  type  which  has  come  into  being  since  the  war. 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  329 

To  understand  the  derivation  of  this  word,  and 
its  witty  connotation,  you  must  know  that  in  their 
game  of  chess,  called  shogi,  a  humble  pawn  advanced 
to  the  adversary's  third  row  is,  by  a  process  re- 
sembling queening,  converted  into  a  powerful, 
free-moving  piece  called  kin.  The  word  nari  means 
"to  become";  hence  nari-kin  means  literally  "to 
become  kin"-  -  which  gives  us,  when  applied  to  a 
flamboyant  profiteer,  a  droll  picture  of  a  poor  little 
pawn  suddenly  exalted  to  power  and  magnificence. 
The  pun,  which  adds  greatly  to  the  value  of  this 
term,  comes  with  the  word  kin.  Kin  is  not  only  a 
chessman;  it  also  means  "gold."  Which  naturally 
contributes  further  piquancy  in  the  application 
to  a  nouveau  riche. 

Moreover,  through  a  play  on  the  word  narikin 
there  has  been  evolved  a  second  slang  term:  narihin 
— hin  meaning  "poor" — "to  become  poor."  And 
alas,  this  term  as  well  as  the  other  is  useful  in  Japan 
to-day.  War  speculation  has  made  some  fortunes, 
but  it  has  wiped  out  others. 

My  friend  0 ,  a  truly  lovable  fellow,  once 

spent  the  better  part  of  an  afternoon  explaining  a 
lot  of  Japanese  puns  to  me,  and  I  was  hardly  more 
pleased  by  the  jests  themselves  than  by  my  friend's 
infectious  little  chuckles  over  them.  At  parting 
we  made  an  engagement  for  the  evening,  but  about 

dinner  time  0 returned  to  say  that  he  could  not 

spend  the  evening  with  me. 

"I  have  just  heard  that  my  best  friend  died 
last  night,"  he  said.  "It  is  very  unexpected.  I 


330          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

must  go  to  his  house."  So  speaking  he  emitted 
what  appeared  to  me  to  be  precisely  the  same  little 
chuckle  he  had  uttered  over  the  puns. 

The  suppression  of  one's  feeling  is  a  primary 
canon  of  Japanese  etiquette.  To  show  unhappiness 
is  to  make  others  unhappy;  wherefore,  when  one 
suffers,  it  is  good  form  to  laugh  or  smile.  The 
foreigner  who  comprehends  this  doctrine  must,  if 
he  be  a  man  of  any  delicacy  of  feeling,  respect  it. 
But  if  he  does  not  grasp  the  underlying  principle 
he  is  likely  to  misjudge  the  Japanese  and  consider 
their  laughter,  in  some  circumstances,  hard-hearted, 
apologetic,  or  inane. 

The  supreme  proof  of  Japanese  humour  is  to  be 
found  in  the  grotesqueries  and  whimsicalities  of 
Japanese  Art.  You  see  it  revealed  everywhere— 
in  the  shape  of  a  gnarled,  stunted  pine,  carefully 
trained  to  a  pleasing  deformity;  in  the  images  of 
cats  left  in  various  parts  of  Japan  by  Hidari  Jingoro, 
the  great  left-handed  wood-carver  of  the  sixteenth 
century;  in  the  famous  trio  of  monkeys  adorning 
the  stable  of  the  leyasu  Shrine  at  Nikko — those 
which  neither  hear,  see,  nor  speak  evil;  in  a  thousand 
earthenware  figures  of  ragged,  pot-bellied  Hotei, 
one  of  the  Seven  Gods  of  Luck,  sitting,  gross  and 
contented  in  a  small  boat,  waiting  for  some  one  to 
bring  his  abdominal  belt ;  in  the  countless  representa- 
tions of  the  Buddhist  god  Daruma,  that  delightful 
egg-shaped  comedian  who  will  run  out  his  tongue 
and  his  eyes  for  you,  or,  if  not  that,  will  refuse  to 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  331 

stay  down  when  you  roll  him  over;  in  figurines  with- 
out number,  of  ivory  or  wood;  in  sword-guards 
embellished  with  fantastic  conceits;  in  those  carved 
ivory  buttons  called  netsuke,  treasured  by  collectors; 
and  perhaps  most  often  in  Japanese  colour-prints. 

The  hundred  years  between  1730  and  1830  was 
the  golden  age  of  wood-engraving  in  Japan. 

During  the  lifetime  of  this  art  it  was  regarded 
as  distinctly  plebeian.  Many  of  the  fine  prints 
were  made  to  be  used  as  advertisements  or  souvenirs. 
Some,  it  is  true,  were  issued  in  limited  editions,  and 
these  cost  more  than  the  commoner  ones,  but  gen- 
erally they  were  sold  for  a  few  cents. 

Unfortunately,  before  the  art-lovers  of  Japan 
perceived  that  the  finest  of  thfee"pmrts^ere  master- 
pieces representing  wood-engraving  at  its  highest 
perfection,  the  best  prints  had  got  out  of  Japan 
and  gone  to  Paris,  London,  Boston,  New  York, 
Chicago,  and  other  foreign  cities,  whence  the  Japan- 
ese have  lately  been  buying  them  back  at  enormous 
prices. 

From  a  friend  of  mine  in  Tokyo,  himself  the  owner 
of  a  very  valuable  collection,  I  learned  that  the 
collection  of  7,500  prints  assembled  by  M.  Vever, 
of  Paris,  has  long  been  considered  by  connoisseurs 
the  finest  in  the  world.  This  collection  was  recently 
purchased  intact  by  Mr.  Kojiro  Matsukata,  of 
Kobe,  president  of  the  Kawasaki  shipbuilding  firm. 
It  is  said  that  Mr.  Matsukata  paid  half  a  million 
dollars  for  it.  My  Tokyo  friend  tells  me  that  the 
collection  belonging  to  Messrs.  William  S.,  and 


332          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

John  T.  Spalding,  of  Boston,  is  probably  next  in 
importance  to  the  Matsukata  collection,  and  that 
it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  Boston  Museum 
collection  or  the  British  Museum  collection  takes 
third  place.  For  primitive  prints,  the  Clarence 
Buckingham  collection,  housed  in  the  Chicago  Art 
Institute,  is  also  very  important. 

How  does  it  happen  that  it  was  in  Europe  that 
Japanese  prints  first  came  to  be  highly  appreciated 
as  works  of  art? 

Octave  Mirbeau,  in  his  delightful  book  of  automo- 
biling  adventures,  "La  628-E8"  (which,  I  believe,  has 
never  been  brought  out  in  English)  tells  the  story. 

The  great  impressionist,  Claude  Monet,  went  to 
Holland  to  paint.  Some  groceries  sent  home  to 
him  from  a  little  shop  were  wrapped  in  a  Japanese 
print — the  first  one  Monet  had  ever  seen. 

"You  can  imagine,"  writes  Mirbeau,  "his  emotion 
before  that  marvellous  art.  .  .  .  His  astonish- 
ment and  joy  were  such  that  he  could  not  speak, 
but  could  only  give  vent  to  cries  of  delight. 

"And  it  was  in  Zaandam  that  this  miracle  came 
to  pass — Zaandam  with  its  canals.,  its  boats  at  the 
quay  unloading  cargoes  of  Norwegian  wood,  its 
huddled  flotillas  of  barks,  its  little  streets  of  water, 
its  tiny  red  cabins,  its  green  houses — Zaandam, 
the  most  Japanese  spot  in  all  the  Dutch  land- 
scape. .  .  . 

"Monet  ran  to  the  shop  whence  came  his  package 
— a  vague  little  grocery  shop  where  the  fat  fingers 
of  a  fat  man  were  tying  up  (without  being  paralyzed 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  333 

by  the  deed!)  two  cents'  worth  of  pepper  and  ten 
cents'  worth  of  coffee,  in  paper  bearing  these  glorious 
images  brought  from  the  Far  East  along  with 
groceries  in  the  bottom  of  a  ship's  hold. 

"Although  he  was  not  rich  at  that  time,  Monet 
was  resolved  to  buy  all  of  these  masterpieces  that 
the  grocery  contained.  He  saw  a  pile  of  them  on 
the  counter.  His  heart  bounded.  The  grocer  was 
waiting  upon  an  old  lady.  He  was  about  to  wrap 
something  up.  Monet  saw  him  reach  for  one  of  the 
prints. 

"'No,  no!'  he  cried.  'I  want  to  buy  that!  I 
want  to  buy  all  those — all  those!' 

"The  grocer  was  a  good  man.  He  believed 
that  he  was  dealing  with  some  one  who  was  a  little 
touched.  Anyway  the  coloured  papers  had  cost 
him  nothing.  They  were  thrown  in  with  the  goods. 
Like  some  one  who  gives  a  toy  to  a  crying  child  to 
appease  it,  he  gave  the  pile  of  prints  to  Monet, 
smilingly  and  a  bit  mockingly. 

" Take  them,  take  them,'  he  said.  'You  can 
have  them.  They  aren't  worth  anything.  They 
aren't  solid  enough.  I  prefer  regular  wrapping- 
paper.'" 

;  So  the  grocer  enveloped  the  old  lady's  cheese  in  a 
piece  of  yellow  paper,  and  Monet  went  home  and 
spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  adoration  of  his  new- 
found treasures.  The  names  of  the  great  Japanese 
wood-engravers  were  of  course  unknown  in  Europe 
then,  but  Monet  learned  later  that  some  of  these 
prints  were  by  Hokusai,  Utamaro,  and  Korin. 


334  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

"This,"  continues  Mirbeau,  "was  the  beginning 
of  a  celebrated  collection,  but  much  more  important, 
it  was  the  beginning  of  such  an  evolution  in  French 
painting  that  the  anecdote  has,  besides  its  own 
savour,  a  veritable  historic  value.  For  it  is  a  story 
which  cannot  be  overlooked  by  those  who  seriously 
study  the  important  movement  in  art  which  is  called 
Impressionism." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

Living  in  a  Japanese  House — The  Priceless  Yuki — The 
Servants  in  the  House — The  Red  Carpet — Our  Trunks 
Depart — Tokyo's  Night-time  Sounds — Tipping  and  Noshi 
— The  Etiquette  of  Farewells — Sayonara 

MY  LAST  days  in  Japan  were  my  best  days, 
for  I  spent  them  in  a  Japanese  home,  stand- 
ing amid  its  own  lovely  gardens  in  Mita, 
a  residential  district  some  twenty  minutes  by 
motor  from  the  central  part  of  Tokyo. 

Through  the  open  shoji  of  my  bedroom  I  could 
look  out  in  the  mornings  to  where,  beyond  the  velvet 
lawns,  the  flowers  and  the  treetops,  the  inverted 
fan  of  Fuji's  cone  was  often  to  be  seen  floating 
white  and  spectral  in  the  sky,  seventy  miles  away. 

After  my  bath  in  a  majestic  family  tub  I  would 
breakfast  in  my  room,  wearing  a  kimono,  recently 
acquired,  and  feeling  very  Japanese. 

While  I  was  dressing,  Yuki  sometimes  entered, 
but  I  had  by  this  time  become  accustomed  to  her 
matutinal  invasions  and  no  longer  found  them 
embarrassing.  She  was  so  entirely  practical,  so 
useful.  She  knew  where  everything  was.  She 
would  go  to  a  curious  little  cupboard,  which  was 
built  into  the  wall  and  had  sliding  doors  of  lacquer 

335 


336          MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

and  silk,  and  get  me  a  shirt,  or  would  retrieve 
from  their  place  of  concealment  a  missing  pair 
of  trousers,  and  bring  them  to  me  neatly  folded 
in  one  of  those  flat,  shallow  baskets  which,  with 
the  Japanese,  seem  to  take  the  place  of  bureau 
drawers. 

Thus,  besides  being  my  daughter's  duenna  and 
my  wife's  maid,  she  was  in  effect,  my  valet.  Nor 
did  her  usefulness  by  any  means  end  there.  She  was 
our  interpreter,  dragoman,  purchasing-agent;  she  was 
our  steward,  major  domo,  seneschal;  nay,  she  was  our 
Prime  Minister. 

The  house  had  a  large  staff,  and  all  the  servants 
made  us  feel  that  they  were  our  servants,  and  that 
they  were  glad  to  have  us  there.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  butler,  an  English-speaking  Japanese 
temporarily  added  to  the  establishment  on  our  ac- 
count, all  wore  the  native  dress;  and  there  were 
among  them  two  men  so  fine  of  feature,  so  dignified 
of  bearing,  so  elegant  in  their  silks,  that  we  took 
them,  at  first,  for  members  of  the  family.  One  of 
them  was  a  white-bearded  old  gentleman  who  would 
have  made  a  desirable  grandfather  for  anybody. 
If  he  had  duties  other  than  to  decorate  the  hall  with 
his  presence  I  never  discovered  what  they  were. 
The  other,  a  young  man,  was  clerk  of  the  house- 
hold, and  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  Saki's 
husband. 

Saki  was  the  housekeeper,  young  and  pretty. 
She  and  her  husband  lived  in  a  cottage  near  by, 
and  their  home  was  extensively  equipped  with 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  337 

musical  instruments,  Saki  being  proficient  on  the 
samisen  and  koto,  and  also  on  an  American  melodeon 
which  was  one  of  her  chief  treasures.  She  was  all 
smiles  and  sweetness — a  most  obliging  person. 
Indeed  it  was  she  who  pretended  to  be  asleep  in  a 
Japanese  bed,  in  order  that  I  might  make  the 
photograph  which  is  one  of  the  illustrations  in  this 
book. 

Four  or  five  coolies,  excellent  fellows,  wearing 
blue  cotton  coats  with  the  insignia  of  our  host's 
family  upon  the  backs  of  them,  worked  about 
the  house  and  grounds;  and  several  little  maids  were 
continually  trotting  through  the  corridors,  with 
that  pigeon-toed  shuffle  in  which  one  comes,  when 
one  is  used  to  it,  actually  to  see  a  curious  pretti- 
ness. 

Sometimes  we  felt  that  the  servants  were  showing 
us  too  much  consideration.  We  dined  out  a  great 
deal  and  were  often  late  in  getting  home  ("Home" 
was  the  term  we  found  ourselves  using  there),  yet 
however  advanced  the  hour,  the  chauffeur  would 
sound  his  horn  on  entering  the  gate,  whereupon 
lights  would  flash  on  beneath  the  porte-cochere, 
the  shoji  at  the  entrance  of  the  house  would  slide 
open,  and  three  or  four  domestics  would  come  out, 
dragging  a  wide  strip  of  red  velvet  carpet,  over 
which  we  would  walk  magnificently  up  the  two 
steps  leading  to  the  hall.  But  though  I  urged 
them  to  omit  this  regal  detail,  because  two  or  three 
men  had  to  sit  up  to  handle  the  heavy  carpet,  and 
also  because  the  production  of  it  made  me  feel  like 


338  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

a  bogus  prince,  I  could  never  induce  them  to  do 
so.  Always,  regardless  of  the  hour,  a  little  group 
of  servants  appeared  at  the  door  when  we  came 
home. 

Even  on  the  night  when,  under  the  ministrations 
of  the  all-wise  and  all-powerful  head  porter  of  the 
Imperial  Hotel,  our  trunks  were  spirited  away,  to 
be  taken  to  Yokohama  and  placed  aboard  the 
Tenyo  Mara,  even  then  we  found  it  difficult  to  realize 
that  our  last  night  in  Japan  had  come. 

The  realization  did  not  strike  me  with  full  force 
until  I  went  to  bed. 

I  was  not  sleepy.  I  lay  there,  thinking.  And 
the  background  of  my  thoughts  was  woven  out  of 
sounds  wafted  through  the  open  shoji  on  the  sum- 
mer wind:  the  nocturnal  sounds  of  the  Tokyo 
streets. 

I  recalled  how,  on  my  first  night  in  Tokyo,  I  had 
listened  to  these  sounds  and  wondered  what  they 
signified. 

Now  they  explained  themselves  to  me,  as  to  a 
Japanese. 

A  distant  jingling,  like  that  of  sleigh-bells,  in- 
formed me  that  a  newsboy  was  running  with  late 
papers.  A  plaintive  musical  phrase  suggestive 
of  Debussy,  bursting  out  suddenly  and  stopping 
with  startling  abruptness,  told  me  that  the  Chinese 
macaroni  man  was  abroad  with  his  lantern-trimmed 
cart  and  his  little  brass  horn.  At  last  I  heard  a 
xylophone-like  note,  resembling  somewhat  the  sound 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  339 

of  a  New  York  policeman's  club  tapping  the  side- 
walk. It  was  repeated  several  times;  then  there 
would  come  a  silence;  then  the  sound  again,  a  little 
nearer.  It  was  the  night  watchman  on  his  rounds, 
guarding  the  neighbourhood  not  against  thieves, 
but  against  fire,  "the  Flower  of  Tokyo."  In  my 
mind's  eye  I  could  see  him  hurrying  along,  knocking 
his  two  sticks  together  now  and  then,  to  spread 
the  news  that  all  was  well. 

Then  it  was  that  I  reflected:  "To-morrow  night 
I  shall  not  hear  these  sounds.  In  their  place  I  shall 
hear  the  creaking  of  the  ship,  the  roar  of  the  wind, 
the  hiss  of  the  sea.  Possibly  I  shall  never  again 
hear  the  music  of  the  Tokyo  streets. 

My  heart  was  sad  as  I  went  to  sleep. 

Fortunately  for  our  peace  of  mind,  we  had  learned 
through  the  experience  of  American  friends,  visitors 
in  another  Japanese  home,  how  not  to  tip  these  well- 
bred  domestics — or  rather,  how  not  to  try  to  tip 
them.  On  leaving  the  house  in  which  they  had  been 
guests,  these  friends  had  offered  money  to  the 
servants,  only  to  have  it  politely  but  positively 
refused. 

Yuki  cleared  the  matter  up  for  us. 

"They  should  put  noshi  with  money,"  she  ex- 
plained in  response  to  our  questions.  "That  make 
it  all  right  to  take.  It  mean  a  present." 

Without  having  previously  known  noshi  by  name, 
we  knew  immediately  what  she  meant,  for  we  had 
received  during  our  stay  in  Japan  enough  presents 


340  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

to  fill  a  large  trunk,  and  each  had  been  accompanied 
by  a  little  piece  of  coloured  paper  folded  in  a  certain 
way,  signifying  a  gift. 

In  the  old  days  these  coloured  papers  always 
contained  small  pieces  of  dried  awabi — abelone— 
but  with  the  years  the  dried  awabi  began  to  be 
omitted,  and  the  little  folded  papers  by  themselves 
came  to  be  considered  adequate. 

Fortified  with  this  knowledge  I  went,  on  the  day 
before  our  departure,  to  the  Ginza,  where  I  bought 
envelopes  on  which  the  noshi  design  was  printed. 
Money  placed  in  these  envelopes  was  graciously 
accepted  by  all  the  servants.  Tips  they  would  not 
have  received.  But  these  were  not  tips.  They 
were  gifts  from  friend  to  friend,  at  parting. 

The  code  of  Japanese  courtesy  is  very  exact  and 
very  exacting  in  the  matter  of  farewells  to  the 
departing  guest.  Callers  are  invariably  escorted 
to  the  door  by  the  host,  such  members  of  his  family 
as  have  been  present,  and  a  servant  or  two,  all  of 
whom  stand  in  the  portal  bowing  as  the  visitor  drives 
away. 

A  house-guest  is  despatched  with  even  greater 
ceremony.  The  entire  personnel  of  the  establish- 
ment will  gather  at  the  door  to  speed  him  on  his  way 
with  profound  bows  and  cries  of  "Sayonaral" 
Members  of  the  family,  often  the  entire  family, 
accompany  him  to  the  station,  where  appear  other 
friends  who  have  carefully  inquired  in  advance 
as  toJbhe  time  of  departure.  The  traveller  is  escorted 


MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN  341 

to  his  car,  and  his  friends  remain  upon  the  platform 
until  the  train  leaves,  when  the  bowing  and  "Say- 
onaras"  are  repeated. 

Tokyo  people  often  go  to  Yokohama  with  friends 
who  are  sailing  from  Japan,  accompanying  them  to 
the  ship,  and  remaining  on  the  dock  until  the  vessel 
moves  into  the  bay.  How  Tokyo  men-of-affairs 
can  manage  to  go  upon  these  time-consuming  seeing- 
off  parties  is  one  of  the  great  mysteries  of  Mysterious 
Japan,  for  such  an  excursion  takes  up  the  greater 
part  of  a  day. 

To  the  American,  accustomed  in  his  friendships 
to  take  so  much  for  granted,  a  Japanese  farewell 
affords  a  new  sensation,  and  one  which  can  hardly 
fail  to  touch  the  heart. 

Departing  passengers  are  given  coils  of  paper 
ribbon  confetti,  to  throw  to  their  friends  ashore, 
so  that  each  may  hold  an  end  until  the  wall  of  steel 
parts  from  the  wall  of  stone,  and  the  paper  strand 
strains  and  breaks.  There  is  something  poignant 
and  poetic  in  that  breaking,  symbolizing  the  vastness 
of  the  world,  the  littleness  of  men  and  ships,  the 
fragility  of  human  contacts. 

The  last  face  I  recognized,  back  there  across  the 
water,  in  Japan,  was  Yuki's.  She  was  standing  on 
the  dock  with  the  end  of  a  broken  paper  ribbon 
in  her  hand.  The  other  end  trailed  down  into  the 
water.  She  was  weeping  bitterly. 

Wishing  to  be  sure  that  my  wife  and  daughter  had 
not  failed  to  discover  her  in  the  crowd,  I  turned  to 
them.  But  I  did  not  have  to  point  her  out.  Their 


342  MYSTERIOUS    JAPAN 

faces  told  me  that  they  saw  her.  They  too  were 
weeping. 

So  it  is  with  women.  They  weep.  As  for  a  man, 
he  merely  waves  his  hat.  I  waved  mine. 

"Sayonara!" 

I  turned  away.  There  were  things  I  had  to  see 
to  in  my  cabin.  Besides,  the  wind  on  deck  was 
freshening.  It  hurt  my  eyes. 


THE   END 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abalone,  diving  for,  304 
Actresses,  increase  of,  96 
Architecture,  democracy  in,  40 
Architecture      and      sculpture, 

horrors  in,  27 

Art,  grotesqueries  and  whim- 
sicalities, 330 

Athletic  sports,  popularity  of, 
103 

Back-end-formost  methods  and 

customs,  48 

Bathing  customs,  52,  65,  289 
Beauty,  artistic  conceptions,  163 
Beds,  how  arranged,  299 
Bill  of  fare,  luncheon,  127 
Boasting,  a  cardinal  sin,  173 
Brides,  outfitted  for  life,  36 
Burglars,  feared  next  to  fire  and 
earthquake,   42;  what  to  do 
when  visited  by,  45 
Bushido,  doctrine  of,  76 
Business  methods,  placidity  in, 

228 

Butokukai — Association  for  In- 
culcation of  Military  Virtues, 
195 

Calendar,  Chinese,  adopted  by 

Japanese,    316 
California,    Japanese    issue    in, 

244 
Calligraphy,  a  line  art,  55 


Chafing-dish,  cooking  in,  149 
Cherry  Dance  of  Kyoto,  144 
Children,  in  profusion,  23 
China,  American  engineer  among 

brigands  in,  10;  compared  with 

Japan,  266 
Chinnung,   Emperor,  discoverer 

of  tea,  69 

Chop-sticks,  lesson  in  use  of,  120 
Class,  the  distinctions  of,  140 
Colonization,  efforts  in,  233 
Concubinage,  still  practised,  85 
Cooking,  chafing-dish,  149 
Costume,  regulated  by  calendar, 

33 

Courtesans,  segregated,  154 
Courtesy,  the  code  of,  in  making 

farewells,  340 
Crest,     family,     as     used    on 

kimono,  34 
Customs  changed  to  fit  Western 

ideas,  174 

Dancing  girls,    or   maiko,    119, 

135,  137,  141 
Daruma,    mythological    creator 

of  tea,  69 

Divorce  customs,  85 
Dress  of  women,  uniformity  of, 

31;  cost  of,  35 


Earthquakes,    influence    of,    in 
building  construction,  38,  42; 


345 


346 


INDEX 


frequency  and  extent,  39;  best 
course  to  pursue  during,  43 
Efficiency  and  non-efficiency  of 

the  people,  235 
Elder  Statesmen,  the,  185 
Eliot,    Sir    Charles,    on    under- 
standing Japan,  75 
Ema,  efficacy  of  an,  320 
English  as  she  is  wrote,  323 
Eri,  neck  piece  worn  with  kimono, 

34 

European  dress  not  popular 
with  women,  31,  37 

Fashions,  little  variation  in,  36 
Feudal  Era,  the,  70 
Films,  kissing  scenes  cut,  98 
Finley,  Dr.  John  H.,  on  reveren- 
tial attitude  of  the  Japanese, 
280 

Flower  Arrangement,  the  study 
of,  66;  origin  of,  68;  in  con- 
nection with  display  of  paint- 
ings, 72 

Folk  dances  by  maiko,  137 
Foods  and  delicacies,  129 
Foreign  customs  adopted,  174 
Fortune  tellers,  well  patronized, 

318 

Fujiyama,  as  seen  from  the  sea, 
13;  the  "Honourable  Moun- 
tain," 14 

Gardens,  history  and  theory, 
167,  177 

Gardens,  diminutive,  21 

Geisha,  the  best  dressers,  37; 
at  a  luncheon,  116;  various 
grades  in,  119;  no  rhythm  in 


their  dancing,  132;  what  they 
really  are,  132;  in  Japanese 
romances,  146;  cost  of  enter- 
tainment, 151 

Geisha,  male,  or  comedian,  156 
Great  Britain's  attitude  toward 
Japan,  268. 

Haori,  how  worn,  35 

Hara-Kiri,  privileges  associated 
with,  192 

Hearn,  Lafcadio,  on  the  Japa- 
nese language,  56;  on  Japanese 
women,  75,  82;  on  the  Tea 
Ceremony,  81 ; 

Hiratsuka,  Mrs.  Raicho,  efforts 
to  improve  marriage  laws,  84 

Honesty,  Japanese  and  Chinese, 
278 

Hospitality,  New  York  and 
Japan  compared,  258 

House  cleaning,  under  police 
supervision,  325 

Humour,  extent  of  native,  328 

Imperial  Bureau  of  Poems, 
duties -of,  165 

Inouye,  Jakichi,  attributes  bear- 
ing of  Japanese  ladies  to  study 
of  Tea  Ceremony,  81 

International  Affairs  ignored  by 
Americans,  242 

Intoxication,  prevalence  of,  123 

Italy,  compared  to  Japan,  163 

Japanese- American   relations, 
letter  from  President  Roose- 
velt to  Baron  Kaneko,  223 
Jesuits,  expulsion  of,  201 
Jiu-jutsu,     in     wrestling,     112; 


INDEX 


347 


taught  to  samurai,  192;  renas- 
cence of,  193 

Jiudo,  development  of,  193 
Johnson,  Senator  Hiram,  agita- 
tor   on    Japanese    question, 
256 

Kakemono,  method  of  hanging 
the,  72 

Kamogawa,  visit  to,  288 

Kaneko,  Viscount  Kentaro,  pre- 
paring history  of  Meiji  Era 
29;  interviews  with,  212;  visits 
at  Roosevelt's  home,  213; 
Roosevelt's  letters  to,  222, 
223,  226,  227 

Kano,  Jigoro,  revives  art  of 
jiu-jutsu,  193 

Kashima   Maru,   voyage  on,    1 

Katsuura,  visit  to,  284 

Kimono,  use  of,  34 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  on  under- 
standing Japan,  75 

Kissing,  attitude  toward,  98 

Kodokwan,  school  of  jiu-jutsu, 
194 

Kokugikwan,  the  national  game 
building,  104,  107 

Korea,  conditions  under  Japa- 
nese control,  9 

Korean  Emperor,  anecdotes  on, 
8 

Kyoto,  Cherry  Dance  at,  144 

Labor,  abundance  of,  19;  waste 

of,  236 
Landscape  gardening,  history  of, 

169 
Language,  peculiarties  of  the,  53; 

difficulties  with,  321 


Leprosy,  extent  of,  90 
Lunch,  the  railway,  276 

Maple  Club,  luncheon  at,  116 
Marquis,  Don,  on  reformers,  151 
Marriage  customs,  85,  93 
Meiji  Tenno,  "Emperor  of  En- 
lightenment," 29 
"Melting  Pot,"  overloading  of 

the,  251 

Militarism,  slowly  waning,  232 
Mirbeau,  Octave,  on  discovery 
of  Japanese  prints  by  Claude 
Monet,  332 

Morris,  Roland  S.,  address  on 
Japanese  issue  in  California, 
244 

Mothers-in-law,  dutifulness  to- 
ward, 93 

Mourning,  costume  for,  36 
Muko-yoshi,    adopted    son-hus- 
bands, 94 

Music,  unmelodious  to  foreign 
ear,  131 

Nabuto,  visit  to,  302 

Naginata,  the  woman's  weapon 
196 

Namazu,  "cause"  of  earth- 
quakes, 40 

Nara,  luncheon  party  in,  137, 
141 

Nesan,  serving  maids,  117 

Nitobe,  Doctor,  on  bushido,  76 

No  drama,  masks  used  in  49; 
knowledge  of,  necessary  in 
study  of  the  people,  75 

Nogi,  Count,  story  of  his  death, 
197 

Nurses'  occupation  popular.  96 


348 


INDEX 


Obi,  chief  treasure  of  woman's 
costume,  35;  how  worn,  36 

Okuma,  Marquis,  Japan's 
"Grand  Old  Man,"  185 

Old  age,  deference  to,  50 

Oriental  Mind,  the,  57 

Partitions,  removable,  118 
Period  of  transition,   beginning 

of,  184 
Perry,  Commodore,   "knocking 

at  Japan's  door,"   28;  opens 

door  to  progress,  184 
Physicians,  women  as,  96 
Picture  brides,  no  longer  allowed 

to  come  to  America,  244 
Pipes,  diminutive,  130 
Placidity  in  business  and  home 

life,    228 
Poems,   annually   submitted   to 

the  Imperial  Bureau,  165 
Politeness,  Japanese  ideas  of  260 
Politics,  lack  of  interest  in,  103 
Population,  excess  in  231,  233; 

must  be  balanced  by  industrial 

expansion,  234 

Prints,  Japanese,  important  col- 
lections of,  331;  discovery  of 

in  Europe  by  Claude  Monet, 

332 
Privacy,    lack    of   in    Japanese 

homes,  298 
Public  utilities,  inefficiency  in,  238 

Race,  unassimilability  of,  253 
Race  problems  of  America,  249 
Railroads,     under     government 

management,  274 
Restaurant,    cost    of   food    and 

entertainment,  151 


Riddell,  Miss  H.,  work  with 
lepers,  90 

Roosevelt,  Quentin,  Baron 
Kaneko's  regard  for,  213,  219, 
227 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  on  reign  of 
Emperor  Meiji,  29;  interest  in 
jiu-jutsu,  193;  visit  of  Vis- 
count Shibusawa  to,  210;  Vis- 
count Kaneko's  regard  for, 
213;  letter  to  Baron  Kaneko 
on  our  Japanese  question,  223; 
wise  attitude  toward  Japan, 
270 

Sake,  how  served,  121 

Samurai,  strength  of  the,  70; 
customs  and  privileges,  192 

Sculpture  and  architecture. 

Self-made  men,  187 

Segregation  of  vice,  154 

Servants,  courtesy  of  and  to, 
117,  336 

Shibusawa,  Viscount  Eiichi 
founder  of  school  for  actresses, 
96;  interview  with,  188,  201; 
anecdote  of  President  Roose- 
velt, 210;  visit  to  grave  of 
Townsend  Harris,  280 

Shimabara,  courtesan  district, 
Kyoto,  160 

Suicide,  prevalence  of  51;  the 
Oriental  view  of,  199 

Sunday,  as  a  holiday,  114 

Superstition,  prevalence  of,  318 

Tails,  wild  men  with,  7 
Tai-no-ura,    and    the    Nativity 

Temple,  287 
Tea,  significance  of,  68;  origin,  69 


INDEX 


349 


Tea    Ceremony,  or    cha-no-yu, 

71,  74,  81. 
Tea  Masters,  veneration  of  the, 

73 

Teahouse,     entertainment     ex- 
pensive, 143, 151 
Teaism,  as  a  study,  68 
Telephone  service,  inefficiency  of, 

238 
Tipping,    proper    procedure   in, 

339 
Tobacco  industry,  a  monopoly, 

130 
Tokugawa,    Prince,    interest   in 

wrestling,  105 
Tokyo,  growth,  26;  architecture 

and    sculpture,    27;    adopting 

steel  for  building  construction, 

38 

Tourists  welcomed  to  Japan,  263 
Tray  landscapes,  art  of  making, 

67 
Tuberculosis,  extent  of,  90 

Vandalism  at  historic  places,  280 
Vice,  commercialized,  154 

Waseda   University,    now   open 
to    women,    95;    founded    by 
Marquis  Okuma,  186 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  activities,  97 
Women,  costume  of,  32;  sedate 


gracefulness  of,  81 ;  suffrage,  83 
legal  status,  84  ;condition  slowly 
improving,  95 ;  in  business  and 
professions,  95;  the  "new 
woman,"  97;  husbands'  atti- 
tude toward  wives,  100;  posi- 
tion higher  in  early  times,  100 
Wood  engraving,  era  of,  331 
World,  New  York,  editorial  on 
Japanese  issue  in  California, 
244 

Wrestling,  the  national  sport, 
103 

Yajima,  Mrs.,  leader  in  W.  C.  T. 
U.,  97 

"Yellow  Peril,"   the  true,   246 

Yokohama,  the  landing,  16 

Yoritomo,  legend  of,  303 

Yoshinobu,  becomes  shogun, 
202;  held  prisoner  after  con- 
flict with  Emperor,  205;  battle 
neither  sought  nor  desired,  207 

Yoshioka,  Dr.  G.  founder  of 
Tokyo  School  for  Women,  96 

Yoshiwara,  courtesan  district, 
Tokyo,  154 

Yuasa,  Commander,  heroism 
at  Port  Arthur,  195 

Zodiac,  belief  in  the  signs  of  the, 
317 


THE   COUNTRY   LIFE   PRESS 
GARDEN   CITY,  N.  Y. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


^Sefftief 


JH27«4 


tlDec 


*e 


JUN  03 


— 


DEC  1 1  1956 


Ibt 


JUN  2  3  13b(J7t 

TSEON'- 


1984 


jot  a  7 

— \  ciRCut^oiiSifi- 


LP  ?A 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


